As the digital age continues to transform the way we access and share information, the need for effective ways to identify and reference digital objects has become increasingly important. The Digital Object Identifier, or DOI, is a system that was developed to provide a persistent link to digital objects, such as journal articles, books, and datasets. This article will explore what DOI is capable of, how it works, and how to refer to or cite digital objects using a DOI.
In the academic world, citations play a crucial role in validating research, giving credit to authors, and allowing readers to access the sources used in a particular work. Among the various methods of citation, Digital Object Identifier (DOI) has emerged as a standard and reliable way to reference academic publications. This article aims to provide a detailed guide on how to effectively use DOI for citation purposes.
What is a DOI? in simple words
A Digital Object Identifier (DOI) is a unique alphanumeric string assigned to a digital object, typically an academic publication such as a journal article, book chapter, conference paper, or dataset. The primary purpose of DOI is to provide a permanent link to the online location of the publication, ensuring its accessibility and persistence over time.
When a publication is assigned a DOI, it becomes a permanent and stable identifier that can be used to locate the resource on the internet. DOI links are designed to be persistent, meaning they remain functional even if the location of the publication changes. DOI facilitates accurate citation by providing a standardized format for referencing scholarly works.
Benefits of Using DOI for Citation:
1. Permanent Linkage:
Unlike URLs, which may change or become obsolete over time, DOIs provide a persistent link to the publication, ensuring its long-term accessibility.
2. Improved Traceability:
DOIs enable precise tracking and identification of scholarly works, making it easier for researchers to verify and reference sources.
3. Enhanced Credibility:
By using DOIs in citations, authors demonstrate a commitment to academic integrity and adherence to standardized citation practices, thereby enhancing the credibility of their work.
4. Facilitated Access:
DOI links streamline the process of accessing scholarly resources, allowing readers to quickly navigate to the source with a single click.
How to Find DOI:
1. Journal Websites:
Many scholarly journals display DOIs alongside articles on their websites. Look for a DOI link or DOI number usually located near the article’s title or in the citation information.
2. DOI Databases:
Several online databases, such as CrossRef and PubMed, allow users to search for DOIs by entering bibliographic information such as the title, author, or publication date of the article.
3. Citation Tools:
Reference management software like Zotero, Mendeley, or EndNote often automatically retrieve DOIs for imported references, making it convenient for researchers to include them in their citations.
How to Format DOI in Citations:
When citing a publication with a DOI, it’s essential to include the DOI at the end of the citation in the following format:
Author(s). (Year). Title of the article. Journal Name, Volume(Issue), Page range. DOI
For example:
Varun Patel, Hitesh Patel., & Jatin Patel, (2023). Understanding the impact of electric vehicles on the environment. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH AND ANALYTICAL REVIEWS, 15(3), 45-56. DOI: 10.1234/55789
It’s important to note that the DOI is typically preceded by the letters “DOI:” or “https://doi.org/” to indicate that it is a digital object identifier.
Common Mistakes to Avoid:
1. Omitting DOI:
Failure to include the DOI in citations can make it difficult for readers to locate the source, undermining the credibility of the citation.
2. Incorrect Formatting:
Ensure that the DOI is formatted correctly according to the prescribed style guide (e.g., APA, MLA, Chicago).
3. Using URL Instead of DOI:
While URLs may also lead to the publication, they are less reliable than DOIs and may become outdated over time. Always prioritize DOI over URL for citation purposes.
Conclusion
In an era characterized by the abundance of digital information, DOI has emerged as a valuable tool for ensuring accurate and persistent citation of scholarly works. By understanding how to effectively use DOI for citation purposes, researchers can enhance the credibility of their work, facilitate access to scholarly resources, and contribute to the integrity of the academic discourse. Embracing DOI as a standard citation practice not only benefits individual scholars but also advances the collective pursuit of knowledge in academia.
As the digital age continues transforming how we access and share information, the need for effective ways to identify and reference digital objects has become increasingly important. The Digital Object Identifier is a system developed to provide a persistent link to digital objects, such as journal articles, books, and datasets. This article will explore what Digital Object Identifier (DOI) stands for, how it works, and how to refer to or cite digital objects using it.
What is a Digital Object Identifier (DOI)?
A Digital Object Identifier is a unique alphanumeric string assigned to a digital object, such as a journal article, book, or dataset. This string provides a persistent link to the digital object, ensuring it can be found and accessed even if the web address or URL changes. This string consists of a prefix and a suffix, separated by a forward slash, that identifies the object and provides a link to it. For example, the Digital Object Identifier for the article might look like https://doi.org/10.2354/s00369-030-05722-z.
The International DOI Foundation (IDF) developed the Digital Object Identifier to provide a persistent identifier that would remain the same even if the web address or URL of the object changed. This ensures that digital objects can be found and accessed reliably over time, even if moved to a new server or web address.
Registration agencies typically do the management of Digital Object Identifier. These registration agencies assign DOIs, maintain the Digital Object Identifier database, and provide DOI resolution services to ensure that DOIs link to the correct digital objects.
Some major registration agencies for DOIs include Crossref, DataCite, and mEDRA. These organizations work with publishers, libraries, and other stakeholders to ensure that DOIs are assigned and used correctly and continue to function over time.
How does the Digital Object Identifier (DOI) system work?
When a digital object is assigned a DOI, it is registered with a DOI registration agency, such as Crossref or DataCite. These agencies maintain a central database of DOIs and their associated metadata, such as the object’s author, title, and publication information.
When a user clicks on a DOI link, their web browser sends a request to the DOI resolver, a service provided by the DOI registration agency. The resolver looks up the DOI in the central database and returns the metadata for the object. This metadata includes a link to the object, which the user can click to access.
How to get Digital Object Identifier (DOI)?
Determine if your content is eligible for a DOI: DOIs are typically assigned to digital content that is scholarly, research-oriented, or otherwise useful to the academic community. Content eligible for a DOI includes journal articles, conference papers, data sets, and more.
Identify a registration agency: Several registration agencies assign DOIs. Some of the most popular ones include CrossRef, DataCite, and mEDRA. Identify the agency that is most appropriate for your content.
Register for an account: To obtain a DOI, you will need to register for an account with the registration agency you have chosen. You may need to pay a fee for registration.
Submit metadata: Once registered, you must submit metadata about your content, such as the title, author, publisher, and publication date. The registration agency will use this metadata to create a DOI for your content.
Receive the DOI: After the registration agency has verified your metadata, they will assign a DOI to your content. You will receive the DOI, which you can use to link to your content.
Sometimes Digital Object Identifier is known as Crossref DOI.
It’s important to note that the specific steps and requirements for obtaining a DOI may vary depending on your chosen registration agency and the type of content you are registering for. It’s best to consult the agency’s website for more detailed instructions.
DOI (Digital Object Identifier) is a persistent identifier that uniquely identifies digital objects such as scholarly articles, datasets, and other types of content. The advantages of using DOI include the following:
Persistent Identification: DOIs provide persistent identification of digital objects, meaning that even if the location of the digital object changes, the DOI will remain the same. This ensures that the object can always be found and accessed. DOIs provide a persistent link to digital objects, ensuring they can be accessed reliably over time. This is especially important for sources that may be moved to a new web address or URL.
Improved Discoverability: DOIs make it easier for users to discover and access digital objects. They can be linked to the object and easily shared among researchers, publishers, and other stakeholders.
Credibility: DOIs are assigned by registration agencies, which helps establish the credibility of the digital object. They also provide metadata that can be used to establish the authorship and ownership of the object, making it easier to attribute and credit the work. DOIs provide accurate and reliable metadata for digital objects, making it easier for readers to find and access them.
Increased citation tracking: DOIs can be used to track citations of digital objects, making it easier for researchers to find related works and analyze citation patterns. Using DOIs for citing sources can help to ensure that you are providing proper credit to the authors of the sources you are citing.
Standardization: DOIs provide a standardized way of identifying digital objects, making it easier for publishers and other stakeholders to manage and share content.
Interoperability: DOIs are interoperable across different platforms and systems, making it easier for researchers to access and use digital objects across different disciplines and fields.
Overall, DOIs provide a standardized, persistent, and credible way to identify and access digital objects, making it easier for researchers to find, access, and cite relevant works.
How do I refer to or cite using a DOI?
To begin, I would state that when citing sources in your research papers, it’s essential to use a consistent format that follows the guidelines of the citation style used in your field. However, most citation styles now include provisions for citing sources using DOIs.
Here is an example of how to use a DOI to cite a journal article in APA format:
Author Lastname, First Initial. (Year). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume number(issue number), page numbers. Doi: xx.xxxx/xxxxxxx
Explanation of the above example:
The author’s last name and first initial are listed first.
Followed by the year of publication in parentheses.
The article’s title is listed next.
Followed by the title of the journal in italics.
The volume and issue number are in parentheses, as are the page numbers.
Finally, the DOI is listed after the page numbers, preceded by “doi:”.
Here is an example of how to use a DOI to cite a book in MLA format:
Author Lastname, Firstname. Title of Book. Publisher, Year of Publication. Doi: xx.xxxx/xxxxxxx
Explanation of the above example:
The author’s last and first names are listed first,
Followed by the book’s title.
The publisher’s name is listed next,
Followed by the year of publication.
Finally, the DOI is listed after the year of publication as “doi:”.
DOIs can also be used for other digital objects like datasets and reports. When citing these types of sources, follow the specific guidelines for your citation style.
Important facts for using DOI in citation
If reference material has DOI, it must be included in the citation; it doesn’t matter whether you used the online or print versions.
If the reference material has DOI and URL both, then consider DOI only for citation purposes.
You can include the DOI in your reference list or citation to refer to or cite a digital object using a DOI.
The DOI should be included at the end of the citation, after the page range or other publication information, and preceded by “https://doi.org/”.
Conclusion
Using DOIs to cite sources in your research papers is an effective way to provide persistent links to digital objects and to ensure that you give proper credit to the authors of your sources. By following the guidelines of your citation style and including DOIs in your citations, you can help to make your research papers more accurate and reliable for your readers.
Before discussing the open journal systems ( or pkp ojs popularity), I would also like to start with the root reason. So, developed and developing countries are spending tons of money on research infrastructures such as open-access journals.
The reason for the matter discussed in the opening remark could be the instant requirement of sustainable development and to avoid the currently seen negative effects of global warming. To elevate the research, each government wants their scholars to invest more time in finding new approaches to simplify daily human life without affecting the natural environment.
As a result, worldwide research communities and universities are putting extra effort into innovations. However, scholars must document their findings in research articles or book chapters to get others’ thoughts and comments.
Eventually, it required some arrangements to publish such scholarly articles. So, in the open-access journal, one can publish research articles and let them be available for peers to review and for future research reference. Open-access journals proved to be a rich source of online reference material.
The open-access journal has become increasingly popular among researchers, authors, and the general public. The concept of open access is based on the idea that scientific research should be freely available to everyone without the need to pay subscription fees. This allows for greater dissemination of knowledge, which in turn can lead to greater understanding and advancements in various fields. However, many individuals around the globe can’t have access to such costly resources to initiate the open access journal’s websites.
Consequently, the platform Open Journal System (OJS), Sometimes known as PKP OJS, Public Knowledge Project OJS, or PKP Open Journal System, has become an open-source platform for establishing open-access journals. In the subsequent section, I will discuss OJS in brief.
So, What is Open Journal System (OJS)?
Open Journal Systems (OJS) is an open-source software platform for managing and publishing scholarly journals. The Public Knowledge Project (PKP), a non-profit organization based at Simon Fraser University, British Columbia, Canada, developed it. It is designed to assist with every stage of the journal publishing process, from submission and peer review to archiving and indexing.
OJS provides various tools for editors, authors, and reviewers, including a submission and peer-review system, an editorial workflow, and a publishing platform. It also includes features like indexing, archiving, and multiple languages and currencies support.
The platform is already a home for more than 10000 scholarly open-access journals worldwide. Its open-source nature allows it to be modified per user tests and requirements.
Now that you know about the OJS, let’s address the core part of the discussion in the next section.
Reasons For the Popularity of Open Journal Systems (OJS)?
There are mainly 2 reasons which make Open Journal Systems (OJS)the most popular open-sourced platform for the website of open-access journals. The actual reasons are as follows:
The advanced technology and dedicated domain expertise used to make this enriches the platform with extraordinary features and attributes. Eventually, the robustness gained automatic attention from the relevant user community. Out of many such functionalities, I would like to discuss a few with detailed information in the subsequent section.
Cost-Effective: It is open-source software that is free to use and distribute. “Free” availability is a significant advantage for organizations and individuals who want to launch an open-access journal but may not have the financial resources to purchase proprietary software.
It eliminates the need for costly subscription fees and allows organizations to invest resources in other areas, such as promoting their journal and paying author fees. This cost-effectiveness is particularly beneficial for non-profit organizations, emerging journals, and institutions in developing countries, which may not have the resources to invest in proprietary software.
Feature-Rich: It provides many features for managing and publishing an open-access journal. These features include;
peer-review management,
workflow management,
indexing,
archiving.
It also allows for customization, which means users can tailor the software to their specific needs. This is especially useful for journals that have unique publishing requirements. For example, journals that publish multimedia content or data sets can benefit from OJS’s ability to handle different file formats and embed multimedia content.
Large & Active User Community: It has a large and active user community that provides support and resources for users. This community includes developers, publishers, and researchers who share knowledge, best practices, and solutions to common problems.
The community also organizes regular meetings and events, allowing users to network and learn from one another. The community also provides support and training, which can be particularly valuable for organizations new to open-access publishing.
Compatibility: It is compatible with a wide range of platforms and systems, making it easy to integrate with existing infrastructure. This is particularly useful for organizations with a website or content management system that want to launch an open-access journal.
It can also be integrated with other open-source platforms such as WordPress, Joomla, and Drupal, allowing greater flexibility and scalability.
Customization: It allows for customization of the journal’s layout and design (ojs themes), which allows journals to create a unique online presence that reflects their brand. It also allows journals to add multimedia elements such as videos and images.
Easy Indexing: It is a dedicated platform for online journal management. It has been designed by keeping the guidelines from world-leading indexing agencies like SCOPUS.
As a result, journal owner can easily index their journals with world-renowned indexers by following the strict workflow of the OJS and maintaining the review quality.
Plugins Compatibility: PKP has made this software robust enough to accept extended functionalities in the form of third-party plugins. So many plugins are available which can fulfill the requirements not provided by the default OJS setup.
Frequent OJS Upgrade: Despite being an open-source platform, to accommodate the times and user demands, PKP keeps on providing regular upgrades. upgrades ensure that hosted journals and its database remain secure for longer.
Journal managers can have additional functionalities to meet the readers’ and authors’ needs. To know more about the OJS upgrade. For a detailed description of the upgrade.
Headless Integration: It allows you to combine your existing journal’s website with the new OJS setup. If you want the editorial workflow only with the existing website front end, this can be a scenario with OJS. However, this is an expert task and asks for extra care. Higher expert for the headless integration.
User-Friendly: It is designed to be easy to use, which reduces the need for extensive technical expertise to set up and maintain a journal website. This makes it accessible to many organizations and individuals, including those who may not have a dedicated IT department.
The user-friendly interface allows for easy navigation and management of the journal, which can be particularly valuable for small organizations or journals with limited staff.
Accessibility: It allows for the creation of accessible open-access journal websites; this means that the open-access journal website is accessible to people with disabilities, which is important for ensuring that all members of the public can access and read articles. This is particularly important because many open-access journals are funded by public institutions responsible for ensuring their resources are accessible to everyone.
Scalability: It is designed to handle a wide range of publishing models, from small journals with limited articles to large journals with thousands of articles.
This scalability allows organizations to start small and grow their open-access journal as needed. It also allows for multiple languages and character sets, which makes it an ideal choice for journals that publish articles in multiple languages.
All these factors combined make It an attractive option for launching and managing an open-access journal. With its cost-effectiveness, feature-rich functionality, large and active user community, compatibility, user-friendliness, and accessibility, It is a powerful tool for making scientific research widely available to the public.
Well-organized Editorial & Publishing Workflow is the most important aspect of any Open-access journal. The detail of each step has been furnished in a subsequent section.
The editorial workflow in OJS begins with submitting an article by an author. The submission is then assigned to an editor, who reviews the article and decides whether it should be sent out for peer review. If the editor determines that the article is suitable for publication, they will assign it to one or more reviewers for evaluation.
The peer review process in OJS is double-blind, meaning that the author’s and the reviewers’ identities are kept anonymous. Open-access journal Reviewers are given a set of guidelines and criteria to evaluate the article and provide feedback and recommendations to the editor.
The editor can then decide whether to accept, reject, or revise the article based on the feedback from the reviewers.
If the article is accepted, it is sent to the copyediting stage. The article is reviewed for grammar, spelling, and style in this stage, and any necessary revisions are made.
The author can then review their article’s copyedited version and make any final revisions.
After the copyediting stage, the article is sent to the layout and proofreading stage. The article is formatted and prepared for publication at this stage, and any final errors are caught and corrected.
Finally, the article is published online in the journal. OJS allows for a variety of publishing options, including immediate or delayed open access, and also allows for archiving and preservation of published content.
Overall, OJS’s editorial and publishing workflow is designed to be efficient, transparent, and fair. It allows for effective management of the review, editing, and publishing process and provides a high level of control and flexibility for editors and authors.
Are you looking for new journal hosting on OJS? Book a free Consultation.
In conclusion, OJS is a powerful and versatile platform that has become the preferred choice for many organizations and individuals looking to establish open-access journals. Its open-source nature, wide range of features, active user community, compatibility, and accessibility make it an ideal choice for those looking to make scientific research more widely available to the public.
If you are reading this blog, you might be intending to know how DOI can be generated for research articles or any digital object. If this is not the case, you might be landed on this page to learn about the DOI or to know what is doi. For the second case, I suggest you visit my detailed blog, which emphasizes “What is DOI?“. By reading this blog, your entire idea regarding DOI will be 100% cleared.
In the subsequent section to just get a basic idea about what is DOI to be clear, I am giving an introduction on what is DOI within 4-5 sentences. Please read it first so that you can understand the concept of “what is DOI” and then go for the actual steps.
In brief: What is DOI?
A Digital Object Identifier is a unique alphanumeric string assigned to a digital object, such as a journal article, book, or dataset. This string provides a persistent link to the digital object, ensuring it can be found and accessed even if the web address or URL changes. This string consists of a prefix and a suffix, separated by a forward slash, that identifies the object and provides a link to it. For example, the Digital Object Identifier for the article might look like https://doi.org/10.2354/s00369-030-05722-z. Now I think you have enough idea about what is DOI. I am sure that now you can take part in any discussion regarding what is done.
If you already know what is DOI?, let’s directly move on to the DOI deposition steps. The reason for discussing what is doi? in detail was necessary to clear your idea. I would only discuss the steps of generating DOI with Crossref throughout this blog. I have taken one journal article as a digital object for which I will generate the DOI. Before proceeding with the actual process steps, let’s discuss a few prerequisites in the next section.
Prerequisites
For depositing the DOI, you need to have either of below stated two types of associations with the Crossref. We can also name these associations as a type of user account opened with the Crossref. You are also required to know what is doi?
Association Type – 1: Independent membership
To apply as an independent member, kindly click on the link https://www.crossref.org/_apply/member/ . Then, follow the instructions and insert the relevant information in the prescribed format.
This association will cost you on the higher side. You must pay USD 275/Year to Crossref for this membership. For more detail on the pricing, I am penning down the link here; please click on it:https://www.crossref.org/fees/#annual-membership-fees/
The time taken to open this account will require too much time. It also requires submitting a lot of documents as well. All in all, this is a complex and time-consuming task. Therefore, I suggest you go for this association with Crossref only if you have higher DOI requirements. Otherwise, go for the second option stated below.
Association Type – 2: Membership via a Sponsor
In case of a few or occasional DOI requirements, I suggest you go for the membership via sponsors. But you may ask a question: how can I find such Crossref Sponsors? To solve this problem, I am giving you the link to find the Crossref Sponsors from your local region: https://www.crossref.org/membership/about-sponsors/.
If you are searching for an official sponsored Crossref partner in India, Sequence R&D is a well-known solution provider. For more details regarding DOI pricing, please click below.
These official Crossref-sponsored partners are eligible to enroll members beneath their sponsorship. However, they can charge you for applying via them to Crossref. The charges may vary depending on the region or members to members.
Approaching steps for applying under a sponsored member
Contact sponsored members via email and brief them on your requirements.
Give them exact numbers of DOI requirements along with the type of digital objects.
Sponsored members revert with pricing and annual subscription charges.
Upon positive confirmation from your end as well as sponsored members’ end, the sponsored member will ask for further detailed relevant information about your journal or another digital object.
The sponsored member will apply for your membership and will receive your Crossref user account credentials. After which, you will be provided with a username and password for your Crossref account. Keep this username and password safe and secure because you will need this while generating the DOI for your digital objects.
Step-by-Step Guide: For Depositing DOI in Crossref
To deposit/generate the DOI for a particular article or entire volume, please follow the below-mentioned steps.For reference purposes, we have created the DOI for the following digital object.
Step-1: Collect Journal & Article Information as shown in the sample screenshot.
Step-1.1: Journal Information
Title: THE JOURNAL OF RESEARCH ANGRAU
Abbr: JORANGRAU
Journal DOI: You Can Skip
Journal URL: You Can Skip
Print ISSN: 0970-0226
Elect ISSN: You Can Skip
Volume: 50
Issue: 02
Issue DOI: You Can Skip
Issue URL: You Can Skip
Type Print(Date): Year: 2022 | Month: 09 | Day: 01
Type Online(Date): You Can Skip
Mandatory Data Required for the Journal
Journal Title
Journal Abbreviation
One ISSN (Print or Electronic)
A Publication Year (Print or Electronic)
Step-1.2: Article Information
Article Title: BIOEFFICACY OF Metarhizium (Nomuraea) rileyi ON PROTEIN PROFILE DURING EMBRYOGENESIS OF Helicoverpa armigera (HUBNER)
Author 1First Name: A. M.
Author 1 Last Name: MOMIN
Author 1 Organization: P.G. Department of Zoology, Yashavantrao Chavan Institute of Science, Shivaji University, Kolhapur- 416 012
Author 2First Name: S. P.
Author 2 Last Name: NALAWADE
Author 2 Organization: P.G. Department of Zoology, Yashavantrao Chavan Institute of Science, Shivaji University, Kolhapur- 416 012
Abstract: Entamopathogenic fungi, Metarhizium rileyi is one of the promising alternative over chemical insecticides for the management of a most serious polyphagus pest, H. armigera. Metarhizium rileyi was tested for their median lethal concentrations (LC50) and qualitative proteins against Helicoverpa armigera was carried out at Research laboratory, P.G. Department of Zoology, YashvantaraoChavan Institute of Science,Sataraunder Shivaji University, Kolhapur in 2019.
DOI*: 10.58537/angrau2 (This will become the DOI for this article. Note: after your dedicated prefix you can write your choice of word. For example you can write 10.58537/angrau33_research-article).
First Page: 1 (First Page of the Article in volume)
Last Page: 9 (Last Page of the Article in volume)
Mandatory Data Required for the Article
A deposit must include at least one article.
Article Title
Article DOI
Article URL
Step-2: Fill out the Web Deposit Form
Click on the URL https://apps.crossref.org/webDeposit/ (of Crossref web deposit form). Now you will see the DOI web deposit form as shown in the screenshot.
Step-2.1: Use the collected information in Step-1.1 to fill this form and click on the button “Add Articles”.
Step-2.2: Now article information form will be opened. Use the collected information in Step-1.2 to fill out this form. Then click on the button “Finish”. See the below given screenshot for better clarity.
Step-3: Use your login credentials
Now you will be redirected to the Crossref user login page. Insert concerned credentials, received from your sponsored agency and log in.
Step-4: Provide Your Email ID
Insert desired email id and click on deposit. Make sure to use an email id ending with “@gmail.com” or “@yahoo.com”. Because the system will not accept other email id formats like “.ac.in”. Click on the button “Deposit“.
Step-5: Final Check for DOI
Your DOI has been generated which you provided during the article information insertion in Step-2.2. To check whether the generated DOI is working or not follow the below steps:
Copy DOI links 10.58537/angrau2 and Paste it into the new tab.
Write “doi.org/” before 10.58537/angrau2.
Which will make your entire link look like this: doi.org/10.58537/angrau2 and press enter.
Now you will see your article or whole volume.
Step-6: Check Your Provided Email
Check your provided email inbox in Step-4 for the confirmation and XML file. You will get 2 separate emails.
Complete Video Guide for Depositing DOI in Crossref.
Conclusion
In today’s digital age, where the amount of research and data being produced is constantly increasing, a DOI has become an essential tool for researchers, publishers, and institutions to manage their scholarly content effectively. So, everyone needs to know what is doi. By assigning a DOI, authors can ensure their work is accessible, discoverable, and easily cited, thus enhancing its impact and facilitating its dissemination. Overall, understanding what is DOI and how to deposit it in Crossref can make a significant difference in the success and visibility of scholarly work.
If you are reading this blog, I assume you feel pain for paying a reasonable amount for the DOI (Digital Object Identifier). So, I am giving a surety that you will eventually get relief after going through below mentioned steps.
Before moving on to the steps for getting free DOI, I would like to introduce the involved stack holders in this process, which are stated below with a corresponding brief introduction. If you know about the below-mentioned, you can directly jump onto the steps.
Crossref is an official DOI Registration Agency of the International DOI Foundation. This is the conventional place for having the DOI facility. Anyone who wants DOI needs to be a member of the crossref with annual membership charges of $ 250 USD and $ 1 USD to $ 2 USD per DOI. for many publishers or individuals; these charges may be a reason for not having DOI. But the below three can provide DOI facilities for free. Let’s go through them.
It is an open repository managed under OpenAIRE, created by CERN. It allows researchers to store scholarly articles and other documents in digital format. ZENODO allocates a unique DOI to each digital document, which can easily be accessed on WWW for a perpetual duration. And the good part about all this is that you have to be a member and will not have to pay a single buck for DOI.
It is a European project supporting the Open Science movement. It is a technical infrastructure that gathers research findings from connected data providers. It aims to institute an open and sustainable scholarly communication infrastructure. This infrastructure is capable of overall management, analysis, manipulation, delivery, monitoring, and uniting all research materials. CERN operates it.
Type www.zenodo.org in the URL bar of the web browsers. You will have a webpage, as shown in the screenshot. If you have already created the account, click the “Log in” button; otherwise, click on the “Sign up” button.
Step-2
Now, you will have a sign-up page, as shown in the screenshot below. You can signup using Github or ORCHID account. Else you can sign up using your normal email id. I will signup using my email id.
Step-3
An email verification link will be sent to your email id, which you entered during signup in step 2. Please find the email from zendo, and click on the link “confirm my account.” Now, you are registered in zendo.
Step-4
After email verification, you will be automatically login into the zendo. If this is not working, try to log in again.
Step-5
Click on the “Upload” tab on the topmost navigation bar.
Step-6
Click on the “New Upload” button.
Step-7
Click on the “Choose File.” The browsing window will be opened. Please choose you desired file for which you want to create DOI.
Step-8
After selecting the file, click on “Start Upload.” Watch out for successful upload under the progress column. Then proceed with the required data insertion steps below (Step 9 onwards).
Step-9
Select “upload type” of the uploaded document file in step 7. In our example, we have publication. For research articles, select the “Publication” radio button and “Journal Article” from the dropdown box.
Step-10
Fill in “Basic Information” relevant to the uploaded file. Like, as publication date, document title, author information, and description. I would suggest filling only mandatory fields for a faster process.
Step-11
Fill “License” detail. This is for setting the access rights of the uploaded document. Do you want your article to be open-accessed or not?
Step-12
After inserting the concerned information, click on “save.” In this step,you can also delete the inserted detail by clicking onthe left side “Delete(Red Colored background)” button. To move ahead, click on the “Publish” button.
Step-13
A warning message will appear after clicking on the “Publish” button in step 12, as shown below screenshot. Read that text very carefully. If you agree with that text, click “I understand.”
Step-14
Congratulation!!!! Now you are at the last stage. You can now see the DOI and the uploaded article preview in the right-hand corner.
Step-15
Now click on DOI generated in the previous sep-14. A window containing “DOI Badge” will pop up. Your DOI information is here for your record. For the final check, please see below step-16
Step-16
How to check generated DOI is working or not?
Now to check, copy the DOI generated in the previous step. Paste it in a new browser tab. Write “doi.org/” at the beginning of the pasted DOI “10.5281/zenodo.7498555”.
Your full DOI is “doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7498555”
For a better understanding, see below:
The above steps will generate the DOI with the zenodo keyword in each generated DOI. To avoid this problem, Click below
I would say DOI is essential to the research article’s life cycle. DOI is necessary to locate any document in WWW. However, DOI is not free, but with the help of CERN, ZENODO, and openAIRE, it is possible to have DOI for free. If you follow the above 16 steps, eventually, you will have free DOI for your digital object.
As you know, digitization is penetrating the whole world due to the internet’s widespread and unavoidable nature. It doesn’t matter in which industry you are in you need to know What is DOI? whether you want it or not, you will have to accept the influence and importance of computers and specifically the internet in your work/business/enterprise/organization/product.
Concerning the aforementioned initialization, it would not be early to point out the area of interest here: “what is DOI?”, and “research paper publication” to open access journals, which is far from digitizing. As a result, I would simply answer the question “what is doi?”: It is some arrangement/mechanism that makes the task simpler and easy to access the research document from the deep sea of the “World Wide Web (WWW)”.
You can also put it like this, to answer what is DOI? DOI will bring the research fraternity even closer around the globe. If you ask me, “is it compulsory for each and every digital document to have DOI?” My answer would be no. The reason for saying this is that, as of now, DOI is not mandatory, but it is much better. Attaching DOI with the research documents will boost your citation count and contribute more to the betterment of humanity. It is a win-win situation.
To summarize, it would be good to write here: “DOI resolves the problem of finding research documents online at the fingertips”.
So what is DOI?
It is a non-repetitive, and constant group of characters, numbers, symbols, special characters and words, linked with online journals, articles, books and many more intellectual digital works for a perpetual time period.
It works as a permanent web address just as a URL for research papers/articles/books, like any other website URL. By clicking on it, an authorized person can access the e-resources online very quickly, without thinking about other complexity.
So, I think we have had enough discussion over the answer to the question “what is DOI?” multiple times and you made your mind clear about the same question what is DOI? So Now we should know more about the DOI in subsequent sections.
What does DOI look like?
It is just like some type of hyperlinks, for example:
doi:10.1080/8585748585.2022.1770549
https://doi.org/10.0011/hex.12445
https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02022667.2019.15662625
https://doi.org/11.1026/j.jpsychires.2018.11.015
Which types of digital documents can have DOI?
DOI can be attached to;
academic journal articles
research reports
governmental reports
data sets
books
conference proceedings
code
media
Why is DOI needed for research articles?
it is a unique dangling identifier for online research articles/books/papers, or documents. It is used for permanently citing the documents in the ocean of www.
You may say research articles can be accessed via the publisher-provided link, but what happens if the publisher’s website may lose its domain or may find some technical problems in hosting?
In the above-discussed situation, the document cannot be accessed via the link provided by the publisher. In such a scenario, DOI is the only solution for accessing the document on the World Wide Web. DOIs make it easier to retrieve your digital document.
We can say that DOI is more stable than normal web links.
How to find DOI in an online research paper?
Generally, you can have a DOI link underneath the research paper title, but this position is not fixed for each and every journal. Sometimes you can also find the DOI in the footer as well. It is totally dependent upon the journal management authorities where they want to place it. The only concern is that it must be easily visible to any visitor.
What if you do not find DOI in a research article?
Insert relevant information like article title/author into the metadata field on.
How to get a DOI?
International DOI Foundation is responsible for managing the body of the DOI. Several DOI agencies have affiliation and homologation with the International DOI Foundation, the end touch point for the DOI creation. To get the DOI, you must find the service providers, such as OJSCloud, India’s leading DOI provider. They are the official sponsored partner of crossref (one of the registration agencies for the International DOI Foundation). It assigns DOIs to scholarly research publications.
OJSCloud is official sponsored partner of Crossref to provide DOI. Contact us today to get DOI.
To summarize, it would not be wrong to say that DOI is a very important and unavoidable mechanism for online research papers/articles, which helps to find them easily from WWW for an infinite period of time. In the modern era of digitization, not attaching DOI with an online research paper is just like shouting about your research work in the assembly of the deaf.