MDOI Governance Policies

1. Purpose and scope

These MDOI Governance Policies define how organisations register, operate, and remain accountable on the MDOI Registry platform. They apply to universities, research institutes, publishers, government agencies, and any institution that creates an organisation account and receives an MDOI prefix.

By registering an organisation account, your institution confirms that it has authority to mint and manage persistent identifiers for the digital objects under its stewardship.

2. Institutional authority and representation

The registering officer must be duly authorised to act on behalf of the organisation. MDOI Foundation may request evidence of authority, including a letter of appointment, registrar confirmation, or equivalent institutional documentation.

• Only one primary organisation administrator account is issued per registered institution unless otherwise approved.
• Administrators are responsible for all identifier deposits made under the organisation prefix.
• Role changes, contact updates, and administrator succession must be reported promptly through the dashboard.

3. Prefix allocation and identifier stewardship

Each approved organisation receives a unique MDOI prefix (for example, 10.9001). Prefixes are non-transferable and remain assigned to the registering institution for as long as the account remains in good standing.

• Identifiers minted under a prefix must refer to genuine institutional or scholarly resources.
• Metadata must be accurate, complete, and maintained for the lifetime of the identifier.
• Resource URLs must resolve to appropriate landing pages and be updated when locations change.
• Withdrawal or archival of records must follow MDOI metadata guidelines and be documented in the dashboard.

4. Metadata quality and compliance

Organisations are expected to maintain metadata that meets MDOI minimum standards and applicable community norms (including Dublin Core, DataCite, or domain-specific schemas where relevant).

• Required fields must be completed at deposit time.
• Public records must not contain unlawful, misleading, or infringing content.
• Sensitive or confidential materials must use supported private visibility controls where available.
• Periodic metadata reviews are encouraged to correct broken links and outdated descriptions.

5. Team access and internal controls

Organisation administrators may invite team members to deposit or manage records. Administrators remain accountable for permissions granted within their tenant.

• Assign least-privilege roles to staff and revoke access when employment ends.
• Do not share administrator credentials across individuals.
• Report suspected unauthorised access immediately to mdoi@academicdigital.space 

6. Billing, subscription, and service continuity

Organisation dashboard access requires an active paid subscription unless a platform-wide free-registration grace period announced by MDOI Foundation is in effect. Subscription fees are billed monthly in Ghana Cedis (GHS) at the prevailing exchange rate.

• Failure to renew may suspend new deposits while preserving existing registered identifiers.
• Invoices and payment history are available in the organisation billing panel.
• Custom institutional billing arrangements must be confirmed in writing by MDOI Foundation.

7. Audit, suspension, and enforcement

MDOI Foundation reserves the right to audit identifier practices, request corrective action, suspend accounts, or withdraw prefixes where governance obligations are materially breached.

Grounds for enforcement include fraudulent registration, systematic metadata abuse, repeated resolution failures, non-payment, or conduct that harms the integrity of the identifier ecosystem.

8. Data protection and third-party rights

Organisations must comply with applicable data-protection laws when registering personal data, research outputs, or institutional records. You are responsible for securing rights to publish metadata and resolve to third-party content.

9. Policy updates

These Governance Policies may be revised to reflect platform changes, community standards, or legal requirements. Material updates will be communicated to organisation administrators by email and through the dashboard. Continued use of an organisation account after updates take effect constitutes acceptance.

10. Contact

Governance enquiries: mdoi@academicdigital.space 
General support: support@mdoi.org / mdoi@academicdigital.space