diff --git a/src/metadataExtractor/helpers/metadata.js b/src/metadataExtractor/helpers/metadata.js
index 54c1c6c..0da5614 100644
--- a/src/metadataExtractor/helpers/metadata.js
+++ b/src/metadataExtractor/helpers/metadata.js
@@ -528,7 +528,9 @@ function parseCitationCFF(citationContent, metadata) {
         return metadata;
 
     } catch (error) {
-        throw new Error(`Error parsing CITATION.cff: ${error.message}`);
+        // log error 
+        console.error('Error parsing CITATION.cff:', error);
+        return metadata;
     }
 }