Q. What is a DOI and why is it important?

A DOI (digital object identifier) is a unique text character sequence that is used to identify digital objects, for example for journal articles, datasets or open source software versions. It is a type of persistent identifier (PID). DOIs also offer a permanent link to specific content and its storage location on the internet.

DOIs are standardized by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), but they are not just a series of letters and numbers that identify a digital object. DOIs contain descriptive information (metadata) that helps to describe and identify that particular object. Required descriptive information includes:

• The URL where the item is located
• A title of the work
• Creator(s) of the work
• Publisher
• Year of publication
• Type of resource

When a DOI is created, it creates a record with a registration agency that can be updated if the digital object moves to a different URL. That allows the DOI to stay the same while updating information about it like the URL.

DOIs are important because they increase the reach and the impact of your research work. Publishers, repositories, aggregators and other providers of research information use DOIs to identify research work precisely. Thanks to DOIs, research work can in turn be assigned more reliably to their copyright holders. Furthermore, metadata and information about individual research work are increasingly linked with DOIs. The video “The DOI for Data” explains the significance of DOIs for research data.

The DOI is used above all for publications in publication contexts and for scientific specialist journals. DOIs are assigned through registration agencies like DataCite or Crossref. Many publishers have agreements with those registration agencies to create DOIs for the works they publish. But other institutions can assign DOIs too, for example:

• You receive a DOI for content that you upload to the Open Science Framework. You can read about how this functions in the worksheet “Make your own data sustainable and transparent”.
• Publications on Zenodo also quickly and easily receive a citable DOI free of charge.
• For research data, you can receive a DOI when it is published on SoWiDataNet|datorium.
• The DePauw Institutional Repository provides stable URLs for students and faculty.

Adapted from The Open Economics Guide and a University of Texas libguide