DOI (identifier)

DOI (identifier)
Name	DOI
Caption	Digital object identifier logo
Introduced	2000
Author	International DOI Foundation
Type	Persistent identifier

DOI (identifier) The digital object identifier (DOI) is a persistent alphanumeric string assigned to uniquely identify content and provide a persistent link to its location on the internet. It is widely used in scholarly publishing, library science, and digital archiving to reference journal articles, books, datasets, and reports across platforms such as CrossRef, DataCite, and publishers like Elsevier, Springer, and Wiley. DOIs facilitate citation, discovery, and interoperability among systems including PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and arXiv.

Overview

DOIs function as persistent identifiers managed by organizations such as the International DOI Foundation and agencies like CrossRef and DataCite, enabling stable access to digital objects hosted by Elsevier, Springer Nature, Taylor & Francis, Wiley-Blackwell, and Oxford University Press. They integrate with metadata services used by PubMed Central, JSTOR, Project MUSE, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar to support scholarly communication, citation linking, and digital preservation with repositories like Zenodo, Figshare, Dryad, and institutional repositories at Harvard, MIT, Stanford, and University of Oxford.

History and development

The DOI system emerged from efforts by publishing stakeholders including the Association of American Publishers, the American Chemical Society, and the International Organization for Standardization to address persistent identification challenges encountered by projects like JSTOR, PubMed, arXiv, and the National Library of Medicine. The International DOI Foundation was established with participation from organizations such as CrossRef, DataCite, Reed Elsevier, Springer, and the Publishing Technology industry; standards and practices evolved alongside initiatives at the Library of Congress, UNESCO, the European Commission, and the Research Data Alliance.

Structure and syntax

A DOI consists of a prefix and suffix separated by a slash, issued within registries such as CrossRef and DataCite and conforming to policies influenced by ISO standards and agencies like the International Organization for Standardization. Prefixes are allocated to registrants such as Elsevier, Springer, Wiley, Taylor & Francis, and university presses including Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press; suffixes often encode publisher identifiers, ISSN or ISBN associations, or internal accession numbers used by PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, arXiv, and institutional repositories.

Registration and governance

Registration of DOIs is performed by registration agencies including CrossRef, DataCite, mEDRA, and ISTIC, under governance by the International DOI Foundation and oversight with input from stakeholders such as the Committee on Publication Ethics, Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition, Association of Research Libraries, and national libraries like the Library of Congress, British Library, Bibliothèque nationale de France, and Deutsche Nationalbibliothek. Major publishers—Elsevier, Springer Nature, Wiley, Taylor & Francis, SAGE—work with agencies to register metadata, while research infrastructures such as CERN, EMBL-EBI, OECD, and the European Bioinformatics Institute advocate best practices.

Uses and applications

DOIs are used to cite articles in journals from publishers like Nature Publishing Group, Cell Press, The Lancet, PLOS, and BMJ, and to reference books from Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, Routledge, and Palgrave Macmillan. They support dataset citation in repositories such as Dryad, Zenodo, Figshare, and ICPSR and are integrated into services like CrossRef Cited-by, ORCID, ResearchGate, Academia.edu, Google Scholar, Scopus, and Web of Science for metrics, altmetrics, and impact analysis. DOIs enable linking in library catalogs at Harvard Library, Library of Congress, British Library, National Library of Australia, and national research infrastructures including ELIXIR and CLARIN.

Persistence and resolution

Resolution of DOIs is provided via infrastructure maintained by the International DOI Foundation and registration agencies, often accessed through resolver services operated by CrossRef, DataCite, and national libraries; this infrastructure interacts with platforms such as PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar, ResearchGate, and institutional repositories to maintain access. Long-term persistence strategies draw on digital preservation efforts by LOCKSS, Portico, CLOCKSS, the Internet Archive, and national libraries including Bibliothèque nationale de France and Deutsche Nationalbibliothek.

Criticism and limitations

Critiques of DOI practice have arisen from researchers, librarians, and funders including the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition, Office of Scientific and Technical Information, and national research councils over issues such as cost and access policies of publishers like Elsevier and Springer Nature, metadata quality concerns impacting CrossRef and DataCite records, and resolution failures linked to inactive landing pages at publishers or repositories like ResearchGate, Academia.edu, and institutional repositories. Debates involve stakeholders such as the European Commission, Committee on Publication Ethics, OpenAIRE, and the Research Data Alliance regarding openness, sustainability, and equity in DOI assignment and governance.

Category:Identifiers Category:Academic publishing Category:Digital preservation