diff --git a/src/main/java/org/gcube/informationsystem/publisher/RegistryPublisherImpl.java b/src/main/java/org/gcube/informationsystem/publisher/RegistryPublisherImpl.java
index 3ae7fa7..2d0be4e 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/gcube/informationsystem/publisher/RegistryPublisherImpl.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/gcube/informationsystem/publisher/RegistryPublisherImpl.java
@@ -94,7 +94,6 @@ public class RegistryPublisherImpl implements RegistryPublisher {
 			log.debug("[VOCREATE] new scope added {}",scope);
 			ResourceMediator.setScope(resource, scope);
 		}	
-
 		// validating the resource
 		try {
 			Resources.validate(resource);
@@ -103,18 +102,19 @@ public class RegistryPublisherImpl implements RegistryPublisher {
 			throw new IllegalArgumentException("the resource is not valid ", e.getCause());
 		}
 		try{
-			
-			// checking the current scope: if the operation fails in the current VO it will give an exception, if it fails in another VO no exception will be given
-			String currentVO = Utils.getCurrentVO(currentScope);
-			if (currentVO != null){
-				RegistryStub stub = getRegistryStub();
-			 	createResource(resource, currentVO, stub);
-			 	vosScopes.remove(currentVO);
-			 //in this case it is a root-vo scope so we need to create the resource only at root-vo level	
-			}else{
-				RegistryStub stub = getRegistryStub();
-			 	createResource(resource, currentVO, stub);
-			 	return resource;
+			if(currentScope != null){
+				// checking the current scope: if the operation fails in the current VO it will give an exception, if it fails in another VO no exception will be given
+				String currentVO = Utils.getCurrentVO(currentScope);
+				if (currentVO != null){
+					RegistryStub stub = getRegistryStub();
+				 	createResource(resource, currentVO, stub);
+				 	vosScopes.remove(currentVO);
+				 //in this case it is a root-vo scope so we need to create the resource only at root-vo level	
+				}else{
+					RegistryStub stub = getRegistryStub();
+				 	createResource(resource, currentVO, stub);
+				 	return resource;
+				}
 			}
 			// update the resource for each VO
 			for (String voScope: vosScopes){
@@ -231,17 +231,19 @@ public class RegistryPublisherImpl implements RegistryPublisher {
 		}		
 		HashSet<String> vosScopes = Utils.getInternalVOScopes(resource);
 		try{
-			// checking the current scope: if the operation fail in the current VO it will give an exception, if it fails in another VO no exception will be given
-			String currentVO = Utils.getCurrentVO(currentScope);
-			if (currentVO != null){
-				ScopeProvider.instance.set(currentVO);
-				registryUpdate(resource, 0);
-				vosScopes.remove(currentVO);
-	// in this case it is a root-vo scope so we need to update the resource only at root-vo level	
-			}else{
-				ScopeProvider.instance.set(currentScope);
-				registryUpdate(resource, 0);
-			 	return resource;
+			if(currentScope != null){
+				// checking the current scope: if the operation fail in the current VO it will give an exception, if it fails in another VO no exception will be given
+				String currentVO = Utils.getCurrentVO(currentScope);
+				if (currentVO != null){
+					ScopeProvider.instance.set(currentVO);
+					registryUpdate(resource, 0);
+					vosScopes.remove(currentVO);
+		// in this case it is a root-vo scope so we need to update the resource only at root-vo level	
+				}else{
+					ScopeProvider.instance.set(currentScope);
+					registryUpdate(resource, 0);
+				 	return resource;
+				}
 			}
 
 			int tries=0;
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/gcube/informationsystem/publisher/utils/Utils.java b/src/main/java/org/gcube/informationsystem/publisher/utils/Utils.java
index ea63116..a3128b1 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/gcube/informationsystem/publisher/utils/Utils.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/gcube/informationsystem/publisher/utils/Utils.java
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ public class Utils {
 			ScopeBean scopeBean = new ScopeBean(scope);
 			if(scopeBean.is(Type.VRE))
 				vosScopes.add(scopeBean.enclosingScope().toString());
-//			else if(scopeBean.is(Type.VO))
+// if the scope is a root-vo scope, it will be added to the vosScope array
 			vosScopes.add(scope);
 		}
 		return vosScopes;