In the vast universe of academic research, pinpointing a specific article can sometimes feel like searching for a needle in a haystack. Fortunately, a Digital Object Identifier, or DOI, acts as a persistent and reliable link to scholarly papers and other research materials. Think of a DOI as a unique digital fingerprint for a research article, ensuring it can be consistently found and cited, regardless of where it’s stored online. Unlike web addresses (URLs) which can change over time, a DOI remains constant, providing a stable pathway to the content you need.
Understanding DOI: The Digital ID for Research
Imagine a Social Security number, but for academic articles. That’s essentially what a DOI is. This unique identifier is assigned to a piece of scholarly content, such as a journal article, book chapter, or dataset, making it permanently discoverable. This permanence is crucial because web addresses can be fickle. A journal might move its website, or a paper might be relocated within a digital archive, causing traditional URLs to break and citations to become invalid. However, a DOI will always point to the correct article, even if the URL changes. This ensures that researchers, students, and anyone seeking reliable information can consistently access and reference the sources they need.
Finding a DOI: Your Guide to Locating It
Locating a DOI is usually straightforward. It’s commonly found prominently displayed on the article itself, especially in scholarly journal publications. Here are the typical places to look:
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On the First Page of the Article: Often, you’ll find the DOI printed directly on the first page, either beneath the title, within the header, or in the footer area. This is the quickest place to check when you have the article in front of you.
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CrossRef.org – The DOI Lookup Tool: If you can’t spot the DOI on the article itself, CrossRef.org is your go-to resource. This website acts as a central registry for DOIs. Use their “Search Metadata” option, and you can input article details like the title, author, or journal name to search for its assigned DOI. This is incredibly useful when you have bibliographic information but not the DOI itself.
Using a DOI: Accessing Articles Made Easy
Once you have a DOI, accessing the corresponding article is simple. There are a couple of easy methods to use a DOI to find the research you need:
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Directly Paste into Your Browser: If the DOI starts with
http://orhttps://, it’s already in a web link format. Just copy and paste the entire DOI into your web browser’s address bar and hit enter. This will usually take you directly to the article’s page on the publisher’s website. -
Creating a DOI Link with
doi.org: For DOIs that begin with the numerical identifier10, you can easily convert them into a working web link. Simply prefix the DOI withhttp://doi.org/. For example, the DOI10.3352/jeehp.2013.10.3becomes<a href="https://doi.org/10.3352/jeehp.2013.10.3">https://doi.org/10.3352/jeehp.2013.10.3</a>. Clicking this link will resolve to the article. -
Off-Campus Access via Proxy: If you are accessing articles from off-campus and need to access journal subscriptions through your institution, you might need to use a proxy URL prefix. For instance, to access resources through UIC’s proxy, you would use:
https://proxy.cc.uic.edu/login?url=https://doi.org/followed by the DOI. For example:<a href="https://proxy.cc.uic.edu/login?url=https://doi.org/10.3352/jeehp.2013.10.3">https://proxy.cc.uic.edu/login?url=http://doi.org/10.3352/jeehp.2013.10.3</a>. This ensures you are recognized as having institutional access to the content.
Pro Tip: It’s always a good practice to verify the DOIs in your reference list to confirm they lead to the correct articles. This helps prevent citation errors and ensures the accuracy of your research.
Citing with DOIs: Mastering Different Styles
Including DOIs in your citations is crucial for academic integrity and allows readers to easily locate the sources you’ve used. Here’s how to incorporate DOIs into citations using three common citation styles: APA, AMA/JAMA, and MLA.
APA Format
In APA format (7th edition), including the DOI is mandatory for all works that have one. Place the DOI at the very end of your citation, without a period at the end. Format the DOI as a hyperlink starting with https://doi.org/.
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume number, page range. https://doi.org/10.0000/0000If an older article genuinely lacks a DOI, simply omit it from the citation.
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume number, page range.If both a DOI and a URL are available, prioritize including only the DOI in your APA citation.
For more comprehensive examples and guidelines, refer to the Purdue OWL: APA Formatting and Style Guide.
AMA/JAMA Format
When using AMA (American Medical Association) or JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) citation style, include the DOI at the end of your citation, preceded by doi:. Do not include an “Accessed” date or a URL when a DOI is present.
1. Author AA, Author BB. Title of article. Name of Jrnl. Year;vol(issue):inclusive pages. doi:10.0000000/000000000000MLA Format
According to the most recent (9th) edition of MLA (Modern Language Association) style, it’s recommended to include the DOI for online scholarly journal articles. If a DOI is not available, use the URL instead. The DOI is placed at the end of the citation, after the database information.
Author LastName, FirstName, and FirstName LastName. "Article Title." *Journal Name*, vol. #, no. #, date, pp. ##-##. *Name of Database*, doi: 10.0000/0000/000000000.While MLA doesn’t require it, it’s advisable to check with your instructor whether they prefer you to include the date you accessed the article.
In conclusion, understanding and utilizing DOIs is essential for navigating and citing academic research effectively. They provide a persistent, reliable link to scholarly content, simplifying the process of accessing and referencing research materials across various disciplines and citation styles.
