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Glossary

Record lifecycle

Metadata

Descriptive information about a record, such as title, authors, resource type, and identifiers. Metadata can be edited after a record is published; files cannot.

Resource type

The category describing the kind of content in a record, such as dataset, publication, software, or presentation.

Deposit form

The form used to create or edit a record by entering metadata, uploading files, and configuring access settings.

Draft

A record that has been saved but not yet published. Drafts are only visible to the uploader and anyone explicitly granted access. They do not appear in search results.

Published record

A record that has been finalised and registered in the system. Once published, files can no longer be changed, but metadata can still be modified. A published record is not necessarily public — its visibility depends on the access settings configured.

New version

A draft created from a published record, used when files need to be modified or replaced. All versions remain accessible and are linked together in the record's version history.

Embargo

A time-based restriction applied to one or more files. Embargoed files are not accessible until the specified date, even if the record's metadata is public.

Visibility & access

To learn more, see Access & Share.

Public

A record or file that is visible to anyone, including unauthenticated users.

Restricted

A record or file that requires a CERN account or explicit permission to access. A restricted record may have public metadata while its files remain restricted.

Access request

A request submitted by a user to gain access to restricted files or record. The record owner receives a notification to approve or deny the request. Access requests can be enabled or disabled using the Share button.
A link that grants access to a draft or record to users who cannot log in to CDS. Shareable links can be generated using the Share button.

Identifiers

DOI

A Digital Object Identifier — a persistent identifier when a record is published. CDS can register a DOI automatically, or you can provide an existing external DOI. See what is a DOI? for a general introduction.

Report number

An alternative identifier for a record which tends to be used in research. It should not be treated as a unique identifier.

Community & roles

To learn more, see About communities.

Community

A space in which records are curated and managed by a specific group of users, typically representing an experiment, department, or project at CERN. A record must belong to at least one community and may belong to more than one.

Curator

A community member with permission to review submission requests, edit records that belong to the community, and manage the community's content.

Inclusion request

A request to add an already published record to an additional community. Since a record can belong to more than one community, an inclusion request allows it to be curated by another community without creating a new version.

Submission request

A request to publish in a community. Submitting a record sends it to the community's curators for review.

Review

The process where a curator evaluates a submission request and determines whether it should be accepted into the community.