diff --git a/app/javascript/react/components/MetadataEntry/ResearchDomain.jsx b/app/javascript/react/components/MetadataEntry/ResearchDomain.jsx
index d8770cbb0b..cf60756db5 100644
--- a/app/javascript/react/components/MetadataEntry/ResearchDomain.jsx
+++ b/app/javascript/react/components/MetadataEntry/ResearchDomain.jsx
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ function ResearchDomain({
               formik.handleSubmit();
             }}
           >
+            <option value="" aria-label="Choose a research domain" />
             {subjectList.map((subj, index) => {
               // key made from subj + count of preceding duplicates
               const key = subj + subjectList.slice(0, index).filter((s) => s === subj).length;