This article explains what each metric in your TitlePage Data Quality Report means, why it matters, and what you can do to improve it. The report is organised around two scores: Supply Chain Health and Data Quality. Understanding what drives each score helps you prioritise where to focus your efforts.
Who this is for
This article is for publishers who receive the weekly Data Quality Report and want to understand what each metric means and how to act on it.
Supply Chain Health Score
The Supply Chain Health Score reflects how available your titles are and how up to date your supply data is. It is driven by three key areas: availability, ETAs, and recency.
Availability
Availability measures how many of your active titles are ready for booksellers to order. A high availability rate signals a healthy supply chain and gives booksellers the confidence to order your titles.
The report shows availability across your active titles and your full list. Active titles are those with a publishing status of Active. Available titles are those with a product availability status of Available, In Stock, To Order, or Print on Demand.
If your availability rate is low, check whether your product availability statuses are being updated regularly and accurately reflect the current supply situation for each title.
ETAs for unavailable titles
This is the most heavily weighted factor in the Supply Chain Health Score. When a title is unavailable, booksellers need to know when it will be back in stock so they can confidently place back orders for customers. Without an ETA, booksellers have no reason to wait and will often look elsewhere.
The report shows the number and percentage of your unavailable active titles that are missing an ETA. Any title flagged here should be treated as a priority. If you do not have a confirmed date, provide your best estimate and update it as information becomes available.
Recency
Recency measures how recently your title records have been updated or confirmed. Booksellers rely on TitlePage data to be current, and stale records undermine trust in your stock levels, pricing, and availability information.
The report splits recency into two categories because different types of titles need different levels of attention:
- Highly Dynamic Titles are active physical books held in stock. These change frequently and need regular updates. For small publishers the threshold is 30 days, and for large publishers it is 7 days. If a title in this category is overdue, it likely means your stock levels or availability status have not been updated recently.
- Less Dynamic Titles are active titles that change less frequently, such as ebooks or physical titles not currently in stock. These still need to be kept current. For small publishers the threshold is 180 days, and for large publishers it is 90 days.
If you have a high number of overdue titles in either category, review your ONIX feed schedule to ensure records are being submitted regularly.
Duplicate records
A duplicate record occurs when the same ISBN is being supplied by more than one publisher on TitlePage. This creates confusion for booksellers and can undermine trust in your data.
In general, only one publisher should be listing a title as actively available on TitlePage, typically the exclusive sales rights holder for Australia and New Zealand. If you see duplicates flagged in your report, review them to confirm whether they should be listed under your account and contact TitlePage support if you need help resolving them.
Data Quality Score
The Data Quality Score reflects how complete your metadata is. Booksellers will only know as much about your titles as you tell them. Complete metadata helps booksellers discover your titles, understand what they are, and feel confident recommending them to customers. It also populates online bookstore listings, so think of it as direct merchandising.
Core metadata
These are the fields that have the greatest impact on whether a bookseller discovers, understands, and orders your titles. Missing any of these should be treated as a priority.
- Cover image: booksellers and readers judge a book by its cover. A missing cover image is one of the most visible gaps in your metadata and directly affects how your title appears in online stores and on TitlePage.
- Description: without a description, booksellers have no way to communicate what a book is about to customers. Ideally you should provide both a short and a long description. This is one of the most impactful fields for discoverability and sales.
- Contributor: authorship is often a key factor in purchasing decisions. Authors and illustrators are also common search terms, so missing contributor data reduces the visibility of your titles. This field also directly influences bookseller stock decisions.
- Subject classification: subject codes allow booksellers and librarians to match readers to titles they haven't personally read. They are also used extensively by online retailers for categorisation. Missing subject data makes your titles harder to find and harder to sell.
- Measurements: physical dimensions help booksellers and warehouses estimate shelving space and calculate shipping costs. Missing measurements can make booksellers less confident about ordering physical stock.
- Extent (page count): page count informs a bookseller or customer's impression of a book, particularly for children's titles. It is also useful for stocking and shipping purposes.
- Audience: audience information tells booksellers which section of the store a title belongs in and helps them recommend it confidently to customers, even if they haven't read it themselves. It also powers online search and website categorisation.
- Subtitle trigger keywords: the report flags titles where marketing language has been placed in the subtitle field. Promotional copy belongs in description or endorsement fields, not in the subtitle. Check your report email for the current list of trigger keywords.
Rich metadata opportunities
These fields are not yet required, but providing them gives your titles a competitive advantage. Think of them as things booksellers appreciate having but won't penalise you for missing yet. Getting ahead of these now means your titles are better positioned as these fields become more widely expected.
- Contributor nationality: tagging contributors with their country allows booksellers to filter specifically for Australian or New Zealand authors. If you publish local authors and don't include this field, your titles will be invisible in those searches. This is one of the most practical things you can do to support local discoverability.
- Thema subject codes: Thema is now the primary subject classification on TitlePage. Titles without native Thema codes are automatically mapped from BIC, but the translation is not always precise. Supplying Thema directly gives you more control over how your titles are categorised and discovered.
- Returns conditions: booksellers are more likely to order a title if they know upfront whether it is returnable. Without this information, some booksellers may avoid ordering rather than risk being stuck with stock. Providing clear returns conditions removes a barrier to ordering.
- Age range for children's titles: a bookseller who doesn't know a children's book well needs an age range to confidently recommend it to a customer. Without one, they may skip your title rather than guess. This field is flagged specifically for titles classified under Thema's children's and young adult categories.
Further information
For further information please contact TitlePage support.