Multilingual metadata
A title in its own script, the same title in Latin letters, the title translated; an author in two scripts; an abstract in two languages — one record, every form of it, and every form findable.
Why. Most of the world's journals print a title in one script and are cited in another. A thesis written in Telugu is searched for by a reader who types its title in Latin letters; a reviewer knows an author as రెడ్డి, a database knows her as Reddy. A record that holds one form loses the others. Format 1.2 of the Smart Scholars DOI Metadata Format holds them all, says which is which, and hands each export the form it can carry. Nothing here is a claim about who we are: it is what a record registered here can hold today.
How a record says it
- The principal title is the title as the work bears it, with its language tag (
te,hi,ur,ar,id). - A transliteration is the same words in another script:
"role": "transliteration", and the tag names the script —te-Latn,ur-Latn, or the other way,en-Deva. The script is in the tag because a reader's software, a screen reader and a search engine all read it from there. - A translation is the title in another language:
"role": "translation", typeTranslatedTitle, with its language. - A name in another script sits under the author:
"name": {"family": "Reddy", "given": "Lakshmi", "alt": [{"family": "రెడ్డి", "given": "లక్ష్మి", "lang": "te"}]}— one form a language or script, at most five. - An abstract in another language sits in
abstractsbeside the main one, each with its language (format 1.1).
The text itself
Since 18 October 2026 every title, abstract and name is read before a record is registered. A record is refused, with the field named and what to do, when its text holds:
- the replacement character � — a letter already lost when the text was converted (a legacy font, OCR): retype it from the printed article;
- a private-use character — a legacy font's own code that no other reader can show: retype the text in Unicode;
- a control character — including the C1 codes that show Windows-1252 text read as Latin-1: send the text as UTF-8 from its source;
- a language tag whose script is not in the text at all —
teon a title with no Telugu letter is either the wrong tag or a transliteration, which says its script:te-Latn; - one word in two alphabets — a Cyrillic о inside a Latin word looks right and is never found: retype the word. Greek inside a Latin word (μm, Aβ42) is allowed, and Chinese, Japanese and Korean letters mix as those languages write.
Said but never refused: text not in Unicode NFC (composed) form, a line break inside a title or a name, an invisible byte-order mark. The registry names them after the record is registered, so the next version can put them right.
Telugu (తెలుగు) — the script of the journal, its Latin transliteration, its English translation
తెలంగాణ గ్రామాల్లో భూగర్భ జలాల నాణ్యత (PrincipalTitle · te)
Telangana gramallo bhugarbha jalala nanyata (Title · te-Latn · transliteration)
Groundwater quality in the villages of Telangana (TranslatedTitle · en · translation)
Author Lakshmi Reddy · లక్ష్మి రెడ్డి (te)
Abstract A study of groundwater in forty villages. (en) · నలభై గ్రామాల్లో భూగర్భ జలాల అధ్యయనం. (te)
The record, as the API takes it
{
"titles": [
{
"value": "తెలంగాణ గ్రామాల్లో భూగర్భ జలాల నాణ్యత",
"type": "PrincipalTitle",
"lang": "te"
},
{
"value": "Telangana gramallo bhugarbha jalala nanyata",
"type": "Title",
"lang": "te-Latn",
"role": "transliteration"
},
{
"value": "Groundwater quality in the villages of Telangana",
"type": "TranslatedTitle",
"lang": "en",
"role": "translation"
}
],
"agents": [
{
"role": "author",
"name": {
"family": "Reddy",
"given": "Lakshmi",
"alt": [
{
"family": "రెడ్డి",
"given": "లక్ష్మి",
"lang": "te"
}
]
}
}
],
"abstract": {
"value": "A study of groundwater in forty villages.",
"lang": "en"
},
"abstracts": [
{
"value": "నలభై గ్రామాల్లో భూగర్భ జలాల అధ్యయనం.",
"lang": "te"
}
]
}Hindi (हिन्दी) — Devanagari first, the Latin form a reader types, English for the index
बुंदेलखंड में वर्षा जल संचयन की परंपराएँ (PrincipalTitle · hi)
Bundelkhand mein varsha jal sanchayan ki paramparayen (Title · hi-Latn · transliteration)
Traditions of rainwater harvesting in Bundelkhand (TranslatedTitle · en · translation)
Author Anita Verma · अनीता वर्मा (hi)
The record, as the API takes it
{
"titles": [
{
"value": "बुंदेलखंड में वर्षा जल संचयन की परंपराएँ",
"type": "PrincipalTitle",
"lang": "hi"
},
{
"value": "Bundelkhand mein varsha jal sanchayan ki paramparayen",
"type": "Title",
"lang": "hi-Latn",
"role": "transliteration"
},
{
"value": "Traditions of rainwater harvesting in Bundelkhand",
"type": "TranslatedTitle",
"lang": "en",
"role": "translation"
}
],
"agents": [
{
"role": "author",
"name": {
"family": "Verma",
"given": "Anita",
"alt": [
{
"family": "वर्मा",
"given": "अनीता",
"lang": "hi"
}
]
}
}
]
}Urdu (اردو) — a right-to-left script; the record says which way the title reads by its language tag
دکن کی لوک شاعری میں پانی کا تصور (PrincipalTitle · ur)
Dakan ki lok shairi mein pani ka tasawwur (Title · ur-Latn · transliteration)
The idea of water in the folk poetry of the Deccan (TranslatedTitle · en · translation)
Author Farhan Siddiqui · فرحان صدیقی (ur)
The record, as the API takes it
{
"titles": [
{
"value": "دکن کی لوک شاعری میں پانی کا تصور",
"type": "PrincipalTitle",
"lang": "ur"
},
{
"value": "Dakan ki lok shairi mein pani ka tasawwur",
"type": "Title",
"lang": "ur-Latn",
"role": "transliteration"
},
{
"value": "The idea of water in the folk poetry of the Deccan",
"type": "TranslatedTitle",
"lang": "en",
"role": "translation"
}
],
"agents": [
{
"role": "author",
"name": {
"family": "Siddiqui",
"given": "Farhan",
"alt": [
{
"family": "صدیقی",
"given": "فرحان",
"lang": "ur"
}
]
}
}
]
}Tamil (தமிழ்) — a thesis: the university's record in Tamil, the catalogue's in English
காவிரி டெல்டாவில் நெல் சாகுபடி மாற்றங்கள் (PrincipalTitle · ta)
Kaveri deltavil nel sagupadi matrangal (Title · ta-Latn · transliteration)
Changes in paddy cultivation in the Cauvery delta (TranslatedTitle · en · translation)
Author Kavitha Murugan · கவிதா முருகன் (ta)
The record, as the API takes it
{
"titles": [
{
"value": "காவிரி டெல்டாவில் நெல் சாகுபடி மாற்றங்கள்",
"type": "PrincipalTitle",
"lang": "ta"
},
{
"value": "Kaveri deltavil nel sagupadi matrangal",
"type": "Title",
"lang": "ta-Latn",
"role": "transliteration"
},
{
"value": "Changes in paddy cultivation in the Cauvery delta",
"type": "TranslatedTitle",
"lang": "en",
"role": "translation"
}
],
"agents": [
{
"role": "author",
"name": {
"family": "Murugan",
"given": "Kavitha",
"alt": [
{
"family": "முருகன்",
"given": "கவிதா",
"lang": "ta"
}
]
}
}
]
}Arabic (العربية) — the same rule serves a journal in Cairo or Riyadh: script, transliteration, translation
إدارة المياه الجوفية في الواحات المصرية (PrincipalTitle · ar)
Idarat al-miyah al-jawfiyya fi al-wahat al-misriyya (Title · ar-Latn · transliteration)
Groundwater management in the Egyptian oases (TranslatedTitle · en · translation)
Author Mona Hassan · منى حسن (ar)
The record, as the API takes it
{
"titles": [
{
"value": "إدارة المياه الجوفية في الواحات المصرية",
"type": "PrincipalTitle",
"lang": "ar"
},
{
"value": "Idarat al-miyah al-jawfiyya fi al-wahat al-misriyya",
"type": "Title",
"lang": "ar-Latn",
"role": "transliteration"
},
{
"value": "Groundwater management in the Egyptian oases",
"type": "TranslatedTitle",
"lang": "en",
"role": "translation"
}
],
"agents": [
{
"role": "author",
"name": {
"family": "Hassan",
"given": "Mona",
"alt": [
{
"family": "حسن",
"given": "منى",
"lang": "ar"
}
]
}
}
]
}Bahasa Indonesia — a Latin-script language needs no transliteration — only the translation, and the abstract in both
Pengelolaan air tanah di kawasan karst Gunungkidul (PrincipalTitle · id)
Groundwater management in the Gunungkidul karst area (TranslatedTitle · en · translation)
Author Dewi Santoso
Abstract Studi di dua belas desa karst. (id) · A study in twelve karst villages. (en)
The record, as the API takes it
{
"titles": [
{
"value": "Pengelolaan air tanah di kawasan karst Gunungkidul",
"type": "PrincipalTitle",
"lang": "id"
},
{
"value": "Groundwater management in the Gunungkidul karst area",
"type": "TranslatedTitle",
"lang": "en",
"role": "translation"
}
],
"agents": [
{
"role": "author",
"name": {
"family": "Santoso",
"given": "Dewi"
}
}
],
"abstract": {
"value": "Studi di dua belas desa karst.",
"lang": "id"
},
"abstracts": [
{
"value": "A study in twelve karst villages.",
"lang": "en"
}
]
}Where each form goes
| Export | What it carries |
|---|---|
| The record (JSON), JSON Lines, the continuity copy | Everything, as held — every title with its role and language, every form of a name, every abstract. |
| DataCite 4.7 | The principal title with xml:lang; a translation as titleType="TranslatedTitle", a transliteration as titleType="AlternativeTitle", each with its xml:lang; abstracts as descriptions with their language. |
| Crossref | One title and one original_language_title — the format's 1.1 mark fills it; the other forms stay on the record here, where Crossref's format has no place for them. |
| Dublin Core (OAI-PMH) | The other titles as dcterms:alternative with xml:lang; abstracts as descriptions with their language. |
| The record page, the search | Each title shown in its own language and direction, named as the same title in another script or the translation; the search finds a record under any of its forms. |
Proved, not promised: the round-trip report follows the Telugu, Hindi and Tamil examples through storage, the API and every export, and Metadata Profile 1.0 sets out every rule, worked out by the registry's own code.
To register one: POST api.php?action=register with the record (format smartscholars-doi-metadata/1.2) and the registrant's key — the API page has the shape; the JSON Schema the rules.
