Understand and use DOIs for articles, datasets, and more.
What Is a DOI?
Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) are used to identify objects. This can be any type of object, physical or digital. However, the most common use of DOIs in science research is to identify research papers or datasets.
When a DOI is assigned (or “minted”), the object receives a unique number made up of a prefix and a suffix separated by a forward slash – for example, 10.1000/182. DOIs always start with 10. Often you will see DOIs displayed as a link, such as https://doi.org/10.1000/182. Generally, the link will point to the object assigned the DOI. However, only the ending numbers are the actual DOI.
How Are DOIs Created?
An organization called the DOI Foundation oversees DOI standards. The foundation has a number of associated registration agencies that operate the DOI system by allocating DOI prefixes, registering DOI names, and providing a metadata schema associated with each DOI record. In turn, research organizations such as universities or journals can join the registration agencies to get the power to mint DOIs.
When a DOI is minted, metadata associated with that DOI is sent to the registration agency. This might include the title and authors of an article.
Tip: Most DOIs will be automatically created for researchers by journals, repositories, or other research institutions. Some universities also have a DOI minting service to create DOIs as needed for researchers.
Why Are DOIs Important?
Through their persistence, DOIs help to prevent “link rot” on the web, where old links become less and less reliable as they age. DOIs can be updated by the registration agency to point to new URLs as objects move around the internet.
Moreover, the DOI system is interoperable, meaning it can be used across different systems. For instance, ORCID can pull in the metadata associated with the DOI of an article to populate your profile, or a citation manager can use that metadata to create a citation automatically.
Finally, publishers are beginning to require DOIs for shared datasets in the article submission process. This helps them ensure that the data has been shared in a sustainable way.
Related Article
Persistent Identifiers (PIDs): An Overview
Sources
DOI Foundation. “DOI Foundation,” 2022. https://www.doi.org/.
DOI Foundation. “Doi Handbook,” April 2023. https://www.doi.org/doi-handbook/HTML/index.html.