What Is a DOI? Digital Object Identifiers Explained for Journals

A DOI (Digital Object Identifier) is a permanent identifier for a piece of published work, such as a journal article, a book chapter or a dataset. It looks like 10.5555/jmr.2026.014, and adding https://doi.org/ in front turns it into a link that always leads to the article, even if your website moves.

That one property is why DOIs matter. Ordinary web addresses break when a journal changes its domain, its platform or its URL structure. A DOI doesn’t: the publisher updates where it points, and every citation that uses it keeps working.

How a DOI works

1. Your journal registers the article with a registration agency (for journals, usually Crossref), sending its metadata: title, authors, journal, volume, issue, date and the article’s web address.
2. The agency records the DOI in the global Handle system run under the DOI Foundation.
3. Anyone who opens https://doi.org/ plus the DOI is sent to the address you registered.
4. If the article moves, you update the address with the agency. The DOI itself never changes.

What the parts of a DOI mean

Part	Example	What it is
Directory	10.	Every DOI starts with 10.
Prefix	10.5555	Identifies the publisher or organisation that registered it (the agency gives you this when you join)
Suffix	jmr.2026.014	Chosen by you. Keep it short and meaningful only to you, for example journal, year and article number

Don’t build the article title or the author’s name into the suffix. Titles get corrected after publication, and a DOI can’t be edited once it’s registered.

Why journals use DOIs

• Citations that don’t break. References that use DOIs keep resolving for decades.
• Discoverability. Crossref shares your metadata with discovery services, reference managers and citation databases, so your articles show up in more places.
• Credibility. Authors increasingly expect a DOI, and many check for one before they submit. It also helps when you apply to indexes.
• Citation tracking. With Crossref you can see which other registered articles cite yours (Cited-by).

DOI, ISSN, ORCID: what’s the difference?

Identifier	Identifies	Example
DOI	One article, chapter or dataset	10.5555/jmr.2026.014
ISSN	The journal as a whole	1234-5678
ORCID iD	One researcher	0000-0002-1825-0097

Most journals need all three. See ISSN explained and why your journal should support ORCID.

Who issues DOIs

DOIs are issued by registration agencies appointed by the DOI Foundation. For scholarly journals the usual choice is Crossref; DataCite mainly serves research data and repositories. Compare the DOI registration agencies.

How to show a DOI on your site

Display the full link, https://doi.org/10.5555/jmr.2026.014, on the article page and in the suggested citation. That’s the format Crossref recommends, and readers can click it. OJS does this for you once DOIs are switched on.

This guide is independent and isn’t endorsed by Crossref, DataCite, Zenodo or the DOI Foundation. Fees, rules and screens are theirs to change: the details here were checked in October 2026, so confirm them on the official site before you budget or apply.

Questions

Is a DOI free?

Not usually for a journal. Registering DOIs through Crossref has a yearly membership fee and a small fee per DOI, though members in some countries pay nothing. See free DOI options and how to get DOIs through Crossref.

Does a DOI expire?

No. Once registered, a DOI is permanent. Keep your membership and metadata up to date so it keeps pointing to the right page.

Can I change a DOI after publishing?

No. You can update the address and metadata behind it, but the DOI itself stays the same. That’s why the suffix should be simple.

Can old issues get DOIs too?

Yes. You can register DOIs for back issues; Crossref charges less for older content than for current content.

Does every article need a DOI?

Every research article should have one. Many journals also give DOIs to editorials and reviews; issues and galleys can have their own if you choose.