--- PLACEHOLDER POLICY ---

CUSAP Policy — [Your Organization]

Effective date: 2025-09-17

1. Purpose

To ensure the integrity, transparency, and currency of the scholarly record by implementing a standardized protocol to notify platforms, services, and users about updates to published works (e.g., errata, corrections, retractions, name changes, expressions of concern, and updated versions). This policy describes how [Your Organization] participates in and conforms to the CUSAP standard.

2. Scope

Applies to all scholarly content published, hosted, or managed by [Your Organization]: journal articles, conference papers, books, chapters, preprints/postprints, repository items, and associated metadata. It covers all post-publication updates regardless of medium.

3. Definitions

CUSAP: Content-Update Signaling & Alerting Protocol.
Update / Amendment: Any post-publication change (erratum, correction, retraction, name change, expression of concern).
Metadata package: The CUSAP-compliant payload describing the update.
Recipient platform: Any downstream service that hosts or redistributes content or metadata.

4. Policy Statement

[Your Organization] commits to:

Issue CUSAP-compliant metadata packages for every qualifying content update, promptly and accurately.
Signal updates to all known downstream platforms and aggregators using supported channels (APIs, webhooks, feeds).
Maintain versioned, traceable records of updates and make update notices transparent to readers.
Follow CUSAP format and technical guidance to maximize interoperability.

5. Procedures

Detecting & Authorizing Updates

Editorial, legal, or production teams identify potential updates.
A formal decision process classifies the update (erratum, correction, retraction, etc.) and records the authorization date.

Metadata Creation

For each update, produce a metadata package including identifiers (DOI, ISSN, etc.), update type, date, version info.
Include a summary of changes (or diff) and links to updated resources.
Validate and QA metadata before release.

Publication & Signaling

Publish updated content or notices on our platform.
Send metadata packages to registered recipient platforms via configured endpoints.
Record delivery events in a signaling log.

Monitoring & Remediation

Monitor delivery success and whether recipients applied updates.
Follow up with recipients in case of failure or mismatch.
Maintain an internal log for audit purposes.

6. Responsibilities

Role	Responsibilities
Editorial	Identify and approve updates; classify status.
Legal / Compliance	Ensure legal and ethical compliance for updates.
Production / Publishing	Create updated content and metadata; publish notices.
Technical	Implement CUSAP endpoints, deliver packages, monitor signals.
Metadata & Indexing	Ensure metadata reaches indexing services.

7. Standards & Technical Requirements

Produce CUSAP-compliant JSON/XML metadata packages (as specified by STM).
Use stable persistent identifiers (DOI, etc.) and versioning timestamps.
Expose secure, documented endpoints (APIs, webhooks, feeds) for recipients.
Provide schema validation and graceful handling for recipients that do not support all fields.

8. Monitoring, Reporting & Review

Maintain logs of signaling events, recipients, and delivery status.
Define success metrics: delivery rate, application rate, time-to-signal.
Conduct regular audits and annual policy review.

9. Risks & Mitigation

Non-consumption by platforms: Maintain relationships, provide adoption guides and client libraries.
Metadata errors: QA, validation tools, templates.
Signaling delays: Internal SLAs and clear ownership for each step.
User confusion: Clear labeling, accessible change notices and version histories.

10. Compliance & Governance

Non-compliance incidents will be investigated and remediated. Staff will receive initial and periodic training. This policy is enforceable under [Your Organization]'s governance procedures.

11. Status Types (Examples)

Erratum: Minor correction that does not alter main conclusions.
Correction: Substantive change but not a withdrawal.
Retraction: Withdrawal due to major flaws or ethical issues.
Expression of concern: Temporary flag while investigation is ongoing.
Name change: Author name updates (e.g., personal changes).

12. Effective Date & Review

Effective date: 2025-09-17. This policy will be reviewed at least annually or earlier if the CUSAP specification or legal/technical environment changes.

Note: By continuing with registration, the user acknowledges they have read and accepted this CUSAP policy.