Thoth Open Metadata is a non-profit UK community interest company (CIC) providing innovative metadata management and distribution solutions tailored to tackle the multiple issues faced by publishers of getting open access works into the book supply chain, ensuring their long-term sustainability and accessibility.

Thoth is a non-profit, open metadata management and dissemination platform providing open solutions for small- and medium-sized book publishers to disseminate OA content openly, globally and effectively, and through both traditional supply chains and emerging routes. 

Thoth enables book publishers to implement good metadata practice pertaining to Open Science and Scholarship, including the provision of Persistent Identifiers (PIDs) – such as DOIs for works, ORCIDs for contributors, and ROR for institutions – as well as integrating controlled vocabularies (such as BISAC and Thema) for subject classification, and the provision of a full Crossmark integration within Thoth’s data model. 

At Thoth, we firmly believe in providing publishers with the freedom to choose their own path. Our commitment to openness ensures that publishers are not locked into any specific platform or service. Thoth's open architecture and APIs empower publishers to integrate seamlessly with other platforms and workflows, allowing for greater flexibility and adaptability. Thoth enables publishers to retain full control over their data and operations. With Thoth, you're not just accessing a platform – you're joining a community-driven ecosystem built on the principles of openness, collaboration, and innovation.

Thoth’s software is open source, and in line with open data principles, the multiple output formats and specifications (e.g. ONIX, MARC, KBART, Crossref XML, json) for more than a dozen platforms are all released under a CC0 dedication.

More specifically, Thoth offers:

• Metadata management for books and chapters (both OA and non-OA titles).

• Automated distribution to various platforms.

• Archiving and preservation of scholarly works.

• Automated DOI registration and management via Thoth Crossref Sponsorship.

• Open APIs for seamless integration with other platforms.

• Thoth Hosting, including hosting of a publisher’s publications, website and catalogue hosting, and provision of privacy-respecting usage statistics.

Thoth also offers:

• Pricing: Free-to-use self-service platform, service portfolio available to publishers seeking to outsource dissemination and archiving workflows. Pricing | Thoth 
• Interviews with publishers on their experiences with using Thoth: Thoth’s Impact: A Series of Interviews with Open Access Publishers · Copim
• The Thoth Wiki: A wealth of information about metadata, platforms, specifications in relation to OA book publishing and the wider book supply chain: https://github.com/thoth-pub/thoth/wiki 

Keep in touch!

🔗 https://thoth.pub

📧 info@thoth.pub

Code on Github: https://github.com/thoth-pub/ 

Social media:

• Mastodon: https://hcommons.social/@Thoth_metadata
• Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/thoth-metadata.bsky.social

Supporting Thoth

Daily operations and further development at Thoth are supported through academic library subscriptions via the Open Book Collective. We are tremendously grateful for the support of more than 30 libraries internationally. FIND OUT MORE