Request for comment: New resourceTypeGeneral "BlogPost"

[KellyStathis]

The DataCite Metadata Schema includes a controlled vocabulary for general resource types—resourceTypeGeneral—with over thirty terms. These terms are used for consistent description of the types of resources for which DataCite DOIs are registered in the mandatory ResourceType property. The vocabulary is also used to describe related resources in the RelatedIdentifier and RelatedItem properties.

Based on community feedback and analysis of existing DOIs, the DataCite Metadata Working Group has developed a proposal to add a new term to the vocabulary: BlogPost. The definition is adapted from the COAR definition for blog post, which is also used in the ORCID Work Types.

Proposed new resource type

Term: BlogPost

Description: A piece of writing or other item of content published on a blog.

Examples and Usage Notes:

<resourceType resourceTypeGeneral="BlogPost"/>

Suggested Dublin Core Mapping: Text

Providing feedback

We are interested in your thoughts on this proposal and possibilities for improvement. Contribute your feedback by leaving a comment on this post. You are welcome to reply by answering any or all of the questions below:

• Would the change work for your use case? Why or why not?
• Is there something you would like to see implemented differently?
• Which aspects of the change would benefit from clarification, if any?

If you would like to share feedback without creating a GitHub account, you can email us at support@datacite.org and indicate whether you’d like us to post a comment on your behalf.

This discussion will close on 3 July 2026, but you can still submit feedback on DataCite Suggestions.

[amandafrench]

Yes, this change would work for my use case, since I register DataCite DOIs for blog posts and always have to type "Blog post" as free text in Fabrica, which it would be nice not to do. All seems good to me.

[mfenner]

@KellyStathis I am biased as blog posts are basically the only content type I register. One important argument for blog post is citation-style-language and formatted citations, e.g. in APA style. Blog posts should be formatted differently from related content types such as preprint, so the right content type is important. Using a free text ResourceType "Blog post" is a workaround, but that approach has limitations.