PDS4 to DataCite Metadata Mapping

This page documents how the PDS DOI Service maps PDS4 XML label fields to DataCite Metadata Schema fields, which default values are applied automatically, and guidelines for curating the remaining fields.

For general metadata quality guidelines, see the DOI Metadata Guidelines page on the PDS Engineering Node site.

Parsed from PDS4 Label 

The following DataCite fields are populated by parsing the submitted PDS4 XML label. XPath expressions use the pds4: prefix bound to http://pds.nasa.gov/pds4/pds/v1.

DataCite Field	PDS4 XPath	Notes
`titles[].title`	`/*/pds4:Identification_Area/pds4:title`	Language set to `en`. Should be descriptive enough to stand alone in an ADS search result. Should include product type, processing level, and version where applicable.
`descriptions[].description`	`/*/pds4:Identification_Area/pds4:Citation_Information/pds4:description`	`descriptionType` set to `Abstract`, language `en`. Should be written as a standalone abstract suitable for non-PDS audiences. Expand all acronyms; avoid short-form citations unless the DOI is also included.
`publicationYear`	`//pds4:Identification_Area/pds4:Modification_History/pds4:Modification_Detail/pds4:modification_date` (earliest date if multiple present), falling back to `//pds4:Identification_Area/pds4:Citation_Information/pds4:publication_year`	Four-digit year extracted from the resolved date. Priority order: (1) earliest `modification_date`, (2) `publication_year`, (3) current UTC date as a last resort if neither field is present. For accumulating collections, should reflect the year the data was first published (recommended by ADS).
`identifiers[].identifier`	`//pds4:Identification_Area/pds4:logical_identifier` + `::` + `//pds4:Identification_Area/pds4:version_id`	`identifierType` set to `Site ID`. This is the LIDVID.
`types.resourceType` / `types.resourceTypeGeneral`	`/*/pds4:Identification_Area/pds4:product_class`	See Product Type Mapping below.
`creators[]`	`//pds4:Identification_Area/pds4:Citation_Information/pds4:List_Author/pds4:Person/` or `pds4:Organization/*`	Structured `List_Author` elements take precedence over the legacy `pds4:author_list` free-text field. See Author / Creator Mapping.
`contributors[]` (Editor)	`//pds4:Identification_Area/pds4:Citation_Information/pds4:List_Editor/pds4:Person/` or `pds4:Organization/*`	Structured `List_Editor` elements take precedence over the legacy `pds4:editor_list` free-text field. `contributorType` set to `Editor`.
`contributors[]` (other types)	`//pds4:Identification_Area/pds4:Citation_Information/pds4:List_Contributor/pds4:Person/` or `pds4:Organization/*`	Parsed from the label but currently merged into `doi.editors` by `process_pds4_fields`. As a result, all `List_Contributor` entries are submitted to DataCite with `contributorType: "Editor"` regardless of the `pds4:contributor_type` value in the label. This is a known limitation pending a future fix.
`subjects[]`	Extracted from `pds4:Context_Area` fields — see Keywords / Subjects Mapping.	Auto-generated and may not follow UAT vocabulary; review and clean up.
Existing `doi`	`/*/pds4:Identification_Area/pds4:Citation_Information/pds4:doi`	Only present if the label already has a DOI assigned. Do not set this manually to avoid overwriting existing DOIs.

Author / Creator Mapping 

The service supports two mechanisms for specifying authors in PDS4 labels. The structured List_Author class is preferred and, if present, supersedes the legacy author_list free-text field.

Structured (preferred) — ``List_Author``:

Each <Person> or <Organization> element within /*/pds4:Identification_Area/pds4:Citation_Information/pds4:List_Author is parsed with the following field mappings:

PDS4 element	DataCite creator field	Notes
`pds4:given_name`	`name` (first part) / `nameType: Personal`	Combined with `family_name` as `"given last"`
`pds4:family_name`	`name` (second part) / `nameType: Personal`
`pds4:person_orcid`	`nameIdentifiers[].nameIdentifier` (scheme: `ORCID`)
`pds4:Affiliation/pds4:organization_name`	`affiliation[].name`
`pds4:organization_name` (inside `<Organization>`)	`name` / `nameType: Organizational`
`pds4:organization_rorid` (inside `<Organization>`)	`nameIdentifiers[].nameIdentifier` (scheme: `ROR`)
`pds4:contributor_type`	Used to classify the role (Author, Editor, Contributor)

Note

The Jinja template currently hardcodes "nameType": "Personal" for all editor/contributor entries in the DataCite output, regardless of whether the PDS4 label specifies an <Organization>. Organizational editors are output correctly by name but will carry nameType: Personal until this is fixed.

Legacy — ``author_list`` (free text):

The /*/pds4:Identification_Area/pds4:Citation_Information/pds4:author_list field is a plain text string. The service uses heuristics to detect whether names are separated by commas or semicolons, then parses each name into first_name / last_name components. This method cannot carry ORCIDs, affiliations, or name types — use the structured List_Author class whenever possible.

Keywords / Subjects Mapping 

subjects[] are auto-generated from several pds4:Context_Area fields using an internal keyword tokenizer:

/*/pds4:Context_Area/pds4:Investigation_Area/pds4:name
/*/pds4:Context_Area/pds4:Observing_System/pds4:Observing_System_Component/pds4:name
/*/pds4:Context_Area/pds4:Target_Identification/pds4:name
/*/pds4:Context_Area/pds4:Primary_Result_Summary/*

Two global keywords — PDS and PDS4 — are always included (configured via OTHER.global_keyword_values in the INI). The auto-generated subjects are not sourced from the Unified Astronomy Thesaurus (UAT). Curators should review and replace or supplement them with UAT terms where possible. UAT keywords can be found at https://astrothesaurus.org.

Product Type Mapping 

The product_class element drives both resourceTypeGeneral and resourceType in DataCite:

PDS4 `product_class`	DataCite `resourceTypeGeneral`	DataCite `resourceType`
`Product_Bundle`	`Collection`	`PDS4 Refereed Data Bundle`
`Product_Collection`	`Collection`	`PDS4 Refereed Data Collection`
`Product_Document`	`Text`	`PDS4 Refereed Document`
Any other `Product_*` (e.g. `Product_Observational`)	`Dataset`	`PDS4 Refereed Data {suffix}` (e.g. `PDS4 Refereed Data Observational`)

Auto-generated Fields 

The following fields are set automatically by the DOI Service and should not be modified manually.

DataCite Field	Value / Behavior
`doi`	Assigned by DataCite at reserve time. Do not set or change this value.
`url`	Auto-generated PDS landing page URL derived from the LIDVID and product type. Format varies by product type, e.g. `https://pds.nasa.gov/ds-view/pds/viewBundle.jsp?...`
`publisher`	Always `NASA Planetary Data System` (from `OTHER.doi_publisher` in the INI config).
`contributors[DataCurator]`	Always `Planetary Data System: {Node} Node` where `{Node}` is the long name of the PDS node supplied via the `--node` argument at reserve time (e.g., `Geosciences`, `Small Bodies`, `Atmospheres`). Valid node IDs and their long names: `atm` → Atmospheres `eng` → Engineering `geo` → Geosciences `img` → Cartography and Imaging Sciences Discipline `naif` → Navigational and Ancillary Information Facility `ppi` → Planetary Plasma Interactions `rs` → Radio Science `rms` → Ring-Moon Systems `sbn` → Small Bodies `unk` → Unknown (default when no node is specified)
`rightsList`	Always two entries: U.S. Government Works — `"This is a work of the U.S. Government and is not subject to copyright protection in the United States. Foreign copyrights may apply."` URI: `https://www.usa.gov/government-works` CC0-1.0 — Creative Commons Zero v1.0 Universal. URI: `http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/` Identifier scheme: `SPDX`
`language`	Always `en`.
`schemaVersion`	Always `http://datacite.org/schema/kernel-4`.

Fields Requiring Manual Curation 

The following fields are either absent from typical PDS4 labels or require human judgment to populate correctly. They can be added or updated via the update action using a DataCite JSON label as input.

`descriptions[]`

The Citation_Information/description field is required in the PDS4 label — the parser will raise an error if it is absent. Manual curation is for improving the parsed description after reserving. A well-curated description:

Be suitable for a non-PDS audience (e.g., ADS users)
Expand all acronyms
Not include short-form citations (Author, Year) unless the full DOI is also provided as https://doi.org/<doi>

`subjects[]` (UAT keywords)

Auto-generated subjects come from the PDS4 context area and may not be accurate or use controlled vocabulary. Replace or supplement with terms from the Unified Astronomy Thesaurus (UAT).

Example of well-formed UAT subjects:

"subjects": [
  {
    "subject": "Kreutz Sungrazers",
    "subjectScheme": "UAT",
    "schemeUri": "https://astrothesaurus.org",
    "valueUri": "https://astrothesaurus.org/uat/890"
  }
]

`relatedIdentifiers[]`

Use this field to cite other data sets and publications that were essential to the creation of this data set (not merely useful for using it). Think of it like references in a journal article.

Use relationType: "Cites" for outgoing citations. Use relationType: "IsCitedBy" for papers that reference this data set.

Example:

"relatedIdentifiers": [
  {
    "relatedIdentifier": "10.26007/6C3R-SD58",
    "relatedIdentifierType": "DOI",
    "relationType": "Cites"
  }
]

`dates[]` (Available date)

The Available date (year + month) is used by ADS to generate usage statistics over time. It must agree with publicationYear.

Note

The current DOI Service does not yet populate this field automatically. It must be added manually when curating the DOI metadata.

Example:

"dates": [
  { "date": "2010-04-01", "dateType": "Available" }
]

`creators[].nameIdentifiers`

When using the legacy author_list free-text field, no ORCIDs can be captured. To add ORCIDs post-reserve, update the DataCite JSON label directly, or switch the PDS4 label to use the structured List_Author class before reserving.

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