IQSS / IQSS/dataverse

Experimental dataset JSON GET API doesn't return multi-valued fields as arrays

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@stevenwinship is already working on this.

Since Jun 25, 2026.

  • #12488 by @stevenwinship — open
Feature: API FY25 Sprint 26 Original size: 20 Type: Bug User Role: API User
Dominant language
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Description

What steps does it take to reproduce the issue?

  1. Create dataset with multi-valued field, e.g. subject in the citation block
  2. Use experimental GET API to retrieve dataset https://guides.dataverse.org/en/latest/developers/dataset-semantic-metadata-api.html#get-dataset-metadata e.g. GET /api/datasets/42/metadata
  • What happens?

The multi-valued field values are not returned as arrays, e.g. 'subject': 'Medicine, Health and Life Sciences'

Side note, the non-experimental API https://guides.dataverse.org/en/latest/api/native-api.html#get-json-representation-of-a-dataset does not have this bug: {'typeName': 'subject', 'multiple': True, 'typeClass': 'controlledVocabulary', 'value': ['Medicine, Health and Life Sciences']}

  • What did you expect to happen?

The multi-valued field values to be returned as arrays, e.g. 'subject': ['Medicine, Health and Life Sciences']

Which version of Dataverse are you using?

v5.13

Any related open or closed issues to this bug report?

/

Screenshots:

/

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start with the experimental GET API at /api/datasets/42/metadata and compare its multi-valued field response with the native API representation described in the linked documentation. Reproduce the subject-field case and verify that multi-valued fields are returned as arrays; an open pull request is already linked to this issue.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
java
Domain
api
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
3/5
Estimated time
1-2 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Clearly specified
Newbie friendliness
20/100

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