Choose the Right Date for a Crossref Update

Decide which event should trigger inclusion

A bibliography limited to papers published during a year and a local cache that needs recently changed metadata require different date fields. Read the Crossref filter definitions for the chosen endpoint. Record the exact filter names and whether the team wants publication, deposit, update, or indexing activity. Save each returned work's publication date alongside the refresh date.

For a hypothetical single-day metadata refresh, use filter=from-update-date:2026-11-01,until-update-date:2026-11-01. For a publication-date window, use from-pub-date and until-pub-date. For index activity, use the index-date filters.

Use explicit calendar bounds and test the first and last dates with known records. Crossref documents inclusive date ranges. A workflow that fetches one interval ending on a date and the next interval beginning on the same date should expect overlaps. Preserve the work identifier as the update key and replace the stored metadata according to the refresh policy.

Check a hypothetical boundary

A first interval supplies 120 distinct works and a second supplies 95. Fifteen occur in both. There are 200 distinct works across the two intervals, even though 215 rows were received. An older article appearing in a recent metadata-update interval can be a legitimate changed record. Check its update field before treating it as a new publication.

When documenting the release, give the number of new local identifiers, previously stored identifiers updated, and records requiring review. Save raw response dates at their supplied precision. A year-only publication value cannot support an exact day comparison without a declared rule.

Crossref REST API filter definitions

Related worksheet: Systematic review search-run worksheet.

Source checked on 5 November 2026.