CrossRef and the Pursuit of Truthiness

STM 2008 Frankfurt Conference

14 October 2008

A Word to Worry About

• "truth that comes from the gut, not books" (Stephen Colbert, Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report," October 2005)

• "the quality of preferring concepts or facts one wishes to be true, rather than concepts or facts known to be true" (American Dialect Society, January 2006)

Internet Trust Anti-Pattern1. System is started by self-selecting core group of high-trust

technologists (or specialists of some sort).

2. System is touted as authority-less, non-hierarchical, etc. But this is not true (see 1).

3. The general population starts using the system.

4. The system nearly breaks under the strain of untrustworthy users.

5. Regulatory controls are instituted to restore order. Sometimes they are automated, sometimes not.

6. If the regulatory controls work, the system is again touted as authority-less, non-hierarchical, etc. But this is not true (see 5).

In Google We Trust? Geoffrey Bilder, Journal of Electronic Publishing, vol. 9, no. 1, Winter 2006

How can we determine whether we can trust the material emanating from a site? The Web was originally conceived as a tool for

researchers who trusted one another implicitly; strong models of security were not built in. We have been living with the consequences

ever since. As a result, substantial research should be devoted to engineering layers of trust and provenance into Web interactions. ..."

Sir Tim told BBC News that there needed to be new systems that would give websites a label for

trustworthiness once they had been proved reliable sources…So I'd be interested in different organisations

labeling websites in different ways.

Authoritative article

The key idea behind the knol project is to highlight authors.

Name verification is by telephone number (US only) or credit card

Knol is a wasteland of…text copied from elsewhere, outdated entries abandoned by their creators, self-

promotion, spam, and a great many old college papers

Reliability and qualityWe write under our real names

Participants write for academic credit

The publishing process is invisible

Problem #1

Solution #1

Make it more visible

Open Journal Systems: An example of open source software for journal management and publishing, J Willinsky. Library Hi Tech. 2005, Vol 23, Issue 4, p 504doi:10.1108/07378830510636300

Solution #2

Problem #2Thinking that publisher’s job is done on publication of the “final” version

Recognize there is no final version and publisher has role post-

publication

http://www.niso.org/publications/rp/

Version of RecordEnhanced VoRCorrected VoR

CrossMark• A visible kitemark for

humans – licensed from CrossRef

• A mechanism for publishers to make a statement of ongoing stewardship

• A reliable mechanism for users to identify the version of the document the publisher is taking responsibility for

CrossMark

• Metadata for machines (and human geeks)

Ve r s io n o f R e c o r dDOI:10/1037/1114Crackpot PressPeer Reviewed: YesCrossChecked: YesReview Type: Double BlindProtocols: Carberry protocol on humFunding: 30% Templeton

Erratum

CrossMark• Highlight pre-publication added value – publishing as a

managed process

• Highlight ongoing post-publication management of content (errata, corrections, retractions) – counter false notion that once something is published the publisher’s job is done

• What about pre-prints? No claim of ongoing responsibility

• What about alternate Versions of Record?

CrossMark• Basic metadata to be simple but extensible by the

publisher

• Beyond the minimum publishers decide what metadata gets included

• Record and advertise processes employed to ensure trustworthiness – peer review, link to journal information pages

• Linked in with DOI to ensure user can locate and access the latest version of the metadata or the content if updated

CrossMark Pilot

• Detailed use cases

• Examples of use in different formats (HTML, PDF)

• Develop techniques and processes to ensure integrity of the system

• Draft business case and policies (who can use it and on what content)

Identity

Geoffrey Whitson BilderBilder, Geoffrey Whitson

Geoffrey W. BilderBilder, Geoffrey W.

Bilder, G. W.G. W. Bilder

Geoffrey BilderBilder, Geoffrey

G. BilderBilder, G.

John SmithJohn SmithJohn SmithJohn SmithJohn SmithJohn SmithJohn SmithJohn Smith

Li (Lee), Wang, Zhang, Liu, Chen, Yang, Huang, Zhao, Zhou, Wu, Xu, Sun, Zhu, Ma, Hu, Guo, Ln, He, Gao,

Liang, Zheng, Luo, Song, Xie, Tang, Han, Cao, Xu, Deng, Xiao

Jane Doe Jane Bloggs

Walter Carlos Wendy Carlos

Cross-ID?

Contributor ID

PyschoceramicsReview

?

epentz.crossref.org

PyschoceramicsReview DOI

+

epentz.crossref.org

DOI:10.1234/0001234

DOI:10.4321/0005678

DOI:10.1234/0005678

epentz.crossref.org

"together we can create a reality that we all agree on — the reality we just agreed on…any user can change any entry, and if enough users agree with them, it becomes

true."

Mission Statement

• To enable easy identification and use of trustworthy electronic content by promoting the cooperative development and application of a sustainable infrastructure

Thank youEd Pentz

epentz@crossref.org