You can configure any custom tags used in your javadoc via the <tags/> element:
<project> ... <reporting> <plugins> <plugin> <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId> <artifactId>maven-javadoc-plugin</artifactId> <configuration> ... <tags> <tag> <name>todo</name> <!-- Should be a combination of the letters Xaoptcmf --> <placement>a</placement> <head>To do something:</head> </tag> </tags> ... </configuration> </plugin> </plugins> ... </reporting> ... </project>