diff --git a/DESCRIPTION b/DESCRIPTION
index bf3c72d..b42a818 100644
--- a/DESCRIPTION
+++ b/DESCRIPTION
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 Package: wddsWizard
 Title: Data Wizard for a Minimal Wildlife Disease Data Standard
-Version: 0.2.3
+Version: 0.2.4
 Authors@R: 
       person("Collin",
           "Schwantes",
diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index 313ed4c..8543737 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+# wddsWizard 0.2.4
+- catch empty subjects from openAlex
+
 # wddsWizard 0.2.3
 - catch empty grants objects from openAlex
 
diff --git a/R/extract_metadata_from_doi.R b/R/extract_metadata_from_doi.R
index ff1c046..844173a 100644
--- a/R/extract_metadata_from_doi.R
+++ b/R/extract_metadata_from_doi.R
@@ -177,7 +177,12 @@ Award Title	Verena Fellow-in-Residence Award"
 
   # subjects
 
-  subjects_df <- data.frame(Subject = oa_json$keywords$display_name) |>
+  if(is.null(oa_json$keywords$display_name)){
+    subjects_tidy <- data.frame(Subject = "")
+  } else {
+    subjects_tidy <- data.frame(Subject = oa_json$keywords$display_name)
+  }
+  subjects_df <- subjects_tidy |>
     expand_tidy_dfs(group_prefix = 'Subjects')
 
   # Related Identifiers