The University of Madeira professor and founder of Ponteditora is among ten candidates selected from 55 applications for the 2026 election to the board of a leading global scholarly communication infrastructure organisation.
Eduardo de Almeida Leite, a professor at the University of Madeira and founder and honorary director of Ponteditora, has been selected as a candidate for the Crossref Board of Directors in the 2026 election.
He is standing in the small and mid-sized member category, in which six representatives will be elected from seven candidates. Across both election categories, Crossref’s Nominating Committee selected ten candidates from 55 applications for seven available seats.
Crossref is an international nonprofit organisation that provides essential infrastructure for scholarly communication. Its services include the registration of persistent digital identifiers, known as DOIs, which help people identify, locate and connect scholarly publications and other research outputs. Its membership includes publishers, libraries, universities and research funders around the world.
Leite’s candidacy aims to bring the perspectives of small independent publishers, multilingual research communities and organisations with limited technical and financial resources to the Board.
As the founder of Ponteditora, Leite has direct experience with Crossref services, including DOI registration and metadata deposits. Based in Madeira, Ponteditora publishes scholarly journals for Portuguese and international academic communities.
In his candidate statement, Leite calls for scholarly infrastructure that is more inclusive, accessible and sustainable. His priorities include improving the quality and diversity of metadata, reducing technical barriers for smaller organisations and strengthening the representation of Portuguese-speaking research communities.
His candidacy also brings attention to the circumstances of outermost regions. Distance from major research centres, smaller markets and limited technological resources create particular challenges for researchers, universities and publishers based in these regions.
In addition to his honorary role at Ponteditora, Leite is Vice-President of the School of Technology and Management at the University of Madeira and Coordinator of OSEAN — the Outermost Regions Sustainable Ecosystem for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. He also participates in European projects focused on innovation, entrepreneurship and the transformation of higher education institutions.
Voting contacts at Crossref member organisations will receive instructions from eBallot on 21 September.
The full list of candidates and their statements are available on the Crossref election page:
https://www.crossref.org/board-and-governance/elections/2026-slate/#ponteditora
