Committees

We have a number of committees that provide oversight of different aspects of our activities. They ensure that Crossref is governed and run efficiently and fulfills its mission. Committees are established in our by-laws or they can be established by our board for a specific purpose.

Our board appoints the Chair of each committee each year at its November meeting. The Crossref guiding principles highlight that effective and representative governance is important to persistence and enabling us to achieve our mission.

Committee	Staff facilitator	Chair
Audit committee	Lisa Hart Martin	Wim van der Stelt, Springer Nature
Executive committee	Ed Pentz	Paul Peters, Hindawi Limited
Membership and Fees committee	Amanda Bartell	Graham McCann, IOP
Nominating committee	Lisa Hart Martin	Mark Patterson, eLife

Executive committee

The Executive Committee is made up of the Chair, Treasurer and three other board members, one who has to be a representative of a non-profit member. The Executive committee has three major functions, to: Steer: create and review agendas for discussion and decision by the Board. Oversee: evaluate key performance indicators and suggest corrective actions between Board meetings. Expedite: take any decisions delegated to it by the board. This usually happens after full board discussion reaches a consensus on a major initiative and wants open details resolved before the next board meeting.

Membership & Fees committee

The Membership & Fees Committee (M & F committee) was established in 2001 and plays an important role in our governance. Made up of 10-12 organizations of both board members and regular members, the group makes recommendations to the board about fees and policies for all of our services. They regularly review existing fees to discuss if any changes are needed. They also review new services while they are being developed, to assess if fees should be charged and if so, what those fees should be.

Audit committee

The Audit Committee is made up of three board members who aren’t officers. They oversee our accounting and financial reporting processes and the audit of our financial statements. The committee also appoints an independent auditor, reviews the results of the audit and oversees the compliance with any conflict of interest or whistleblower policies. You can see our financial statements in our annual report that we produce in the November of each year.

Nominating committee

The Nominating Committee is defined in the by-laws. There are five members of the committee and they can be either representations of organizations on the board or other regular members. Common practice is for membership to be made up of three board members not up for election that year, and two regular (non-board) members. The purpose of this committee is to review and create the slate each year for nominations to the board, ensuring fair representation of membership.