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Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs)

Introduces us to DOIs and answers common questions

Common Questions

#1 Where can I locate a journal articles's DOI?

Scan the web page or source. If one is assigned, it is mostly likely near the top of the web page where you located the article or maybe on the article itself.

article from Taylor & Francis with DOI at top

#2 Where can I find out if the article, book chapter etc. I want to use in my bibliography has a DOI?

Use CrossRef. Select the "Search Metadata"tab and paste in the title of your article, book chapter etc.

sample search in CrossRef interface

Let's try locating a DOI for these examples using CrossRef.

  1. Textbook broke: Textbook affordability as a social justice issue
  2. Using emotional and social factors to predict student success
  3. Craniomandibular status and function in patients with habitual snoring and obstructive sleep apnoea ...
#3 If an information source has a DOI, is it automatically considered a scholarly source?

No. Though scholarly sources, especially peer-reviewed journal articles, are likely to have a DOI, non-scholarly sources may be assigned a DOI.  For example, this data set has been assigned a DOI.

citation of a data set with a DOI

#4 Should I use the active or inactive form of a DOI when I want to cite it?

It depends. Consult your citation style guide (APA, MLA, CSE etc.) to determine what the style requires. Though not all citations style want DOIs formatted in the same way, many styles seem to be moving toward using the active DOI format.

In these styles, DOIs are usually preferred over regular URLs.