Digital Object Identifier (DOI) and its Crucial Role in Scientific Publishing

Guide for authors
Posted on 16-06-2025

Digital Object Identifier (DOI) plays an increasingly crucial role in identifying and managing scholarly research works. This article provides a detailed overview of DOI, from its structure and benefits to creation guidelines, helping researchers, publishers, and scientific journals understand and apply it effectively.

A DOI is a unique string of characters, created by the International DOI Foundation, used to permanently identify a digital object, such as a scientific article, book, book chapter, research data, or digital artwork. DOI adheres to ISO standards and ensures persistent access even when the URL of the document changes.

Benefits of Using DOI

Registering a DOI for research works offers numerous practical benefits:

  • Increased discoverability and access: DOI helps readers easily find articles through search engines and academic databases.
  • Ensures accurate citation: DOI provides a stable and unique link to the article, making it easier for authors to link to their own works and ensuring precise citations.
  • Effective tracking and management: DOI helps journals and authors track citation counts, download numbers, and other metrics related to the article, thereby assessing research effectiveness.
  • Connects with other identification systems: DOI allows linking with other identifiers such as ORCID (for researchers) and ROR (for research organizations), creating a tightly integrated information ecosystem.

Structure of a DOI

A complete DOI consists of three main components:

  1. DOI Resolver: The system that parses and converts a DOI link into the actual URL of the document.
  2. Prefix: Consists of two parts:
    • Directory Indicator: Always "10" (as specified by DOI).
    • Registrant Code: A unique string assigned to the DOI registration agency.
  3. Suffix: A string of characters structured by the DOI registration agency, containing information to identify the specific document. Ensuring uniqueness and persistence is a key factor when creating a DOI suffix.

General Rules for Creating DOIs

All DOI registration agencies adhere to the following general rules:

  • Uniqueness: Each DOI must be unique and non-duplicative.
  • Separation: The prefix and suffix are separated by a forward slash ("/").
  • Allowed Characters: DOI suffixes can contain letters (A-Z, case-insensitive, lowercase recommended), numbers (0-9), and special characters (- . _ ; ( ) /).
  • Disallowed Characters: Em dashes and en dashes.

The International DOI Foundation recommends that DOI registration agencies exercise caution when creating and managing DOI suffixes, and apply the following rules:

  • Apply to all levels: Use DOIs for all levels, from journal/book (title-level DOI) to volume, issue, article, or chapter.
  • Concise and readable: DOI suffixes should be concise, easy to display, easy to read, and easy to retype as they will appear online and in print.
  • Avoid redundant information: Information such as journal names, page numbers, or dates should not be included, as they can cause confusion or conflict with metadata.

Example of a good DOI: 10.3390/s18020479 (easy to retype, does not contain easily confusing information).

Example of a problematic DOI: 10.5555/2014-04-01 (contains information that can cause metadata confusion).

Guidelines for Creating DOI Suffixes

For journals using electronic publishing systems, DOI suffixes are often automatically generated and easily managed according to custom-built templates:

  • Using default templates: DOI providers often offer default templates, for example:
    • %j.v%vi%i (for journal issue)
    • %j.v%vi%i.%a (for article)
    • %j.v%vi%i.%a.g%g (for print version)
  • Creating custom templates: Journals can create their own DOI suffix templates with variables such as %j (journal abbreviation), %v (volume number), %i (issue number), %Y (year), %a (article ID), %g (print ID), %f (file ID), %p (page number). For example: vol%viss%ipp%p could generate a DOI like 10.1234/vol3iss2pp230.
  • Entering custom suffixes: Journals can manually enter unique DOI suffixes for each published item, provided uniqueness is ensured.

How to Register a DOI?

To register a DOI, an entity needs to contact an authorized DOI provider accredited by the International DOI Foundation (IDPF) to obtain an account for DOI creation and upload required metadata. Some popular DOI providers include Crossref, DataCite, mEDRA, etc. These entities activate DOIs, manage the metadata assigned to them, provide access to the data, and support users in easily managing, searching, and accessing information.

Do Articles Submitted to Health and Aging Journal Have DOIs?

Yes. All articles published by Health and Aging Journal are assigned a unique DOI. Authors can view the Submission Guidelines and Publication Instructions here.

Conclusion

DOI is an essential tool for managing, measuring performance, and improving the discoverability and access of scholarly research works. The adoption of DOI has become a standard practice in scientific journals worldwide. Researchers, publishers, and scientific journals should clearly understand DOI and apply it effectively to enhance the value and impact of their research.