digital object identifier

Solving a common problem. Knowing what’s what, now and in the future. The DOI is not only persistent but it is “actionable” which means that you use it and something useful will happen. For instance, you can plug it into a web browser and be taken to an object. We call this resolving the DOI. Here is a chart of the resolutions over time: In many sectors, a reliable archive is important and denoting the provenance of a record is imperative. Metadata, applications, and services associated with DOIs can be updated without having to change the DOI itself, so for instance as new information becomes available, past records can be updated even decades after they were first created. Sometimes there are multiple links behind a DOI (we call this multiple resolution) and users will be redirected to the appropriate one. You need to work with one of our DOI Registration Agencies who offer services that allow you to register a DOI or many DOIs and metadata specialised to their communities. You can contact any of them to see how they can help you. The DOI Handbook is the main source of information about the DOI® System. You can find the latest version here: . We use Handle System technology for the resolution part of the DOI System. We believe it is the best infrastructure available today for managing digital objects. The Handle System was developed by CNRI and is currently administered and maintained by the DONA Foundation In order to guarantee persistence, the DOI Foundation has built a social infrastructure on top of the technical infrastructure of the Handle System. Persistence is a function of organizations, not of technology; a persistent identifier system requires a persistent organization, agreed policies and defined processes. Read more about our Registration Agencies’ committments . We believe that standardization provides a further guarantee of good governance and persistence. The DOI system has been standardized through the International Standards Organization, as ISO 26324, Digital Object Identifier System. The Standard was approved in November 2010, published in May 2012 and revised in 2022. The history is described here . The Standard specifies the syntax and the functional components of the DOI System, plus the general principles for the creation, registration and administration of DOI names. The Standard is careful not to stipulate any specific technologies. Darker shades show higher number of total resolutions by country for the last complete month. Mousing over the map will show individual country totals