Open AccessDigital object identifiers (DOI) and your research

What is a DOI?

A DOI is a unique, persistent identifier, created to ensure that your work is discoverable over time, thereby preventing any “link not found” errors. DOIs are one example of a persistent identifier (PID), which is a long-lasting reference to a digital resource. Another example of a PID is an ORCID ID, which is used to identify an individual researcher. PIDs such as DOIs and ORCID are key to facilitating the discoverability of scholarly resources.

What does a DOI look like?

A typical DOI consists of a prefix identifying the organisation responsible for assigning it (such as a library) plus a unique alphanumeric string identifying the object itself.

To link to the object’s metadata page or catalogue record, these are combined with the International DOI Foundation’s URL.

At Strathclyde, these three DOI elements would look like this: https://doi.org/10.17868/strath.00089185.

  • https://doi.org/ (DOI Foundation’s URL which assigns our repository DOIs)
  • "10.17868/:" (the prefix for Strathprints)
  • "strath.00089185" (the digital object’s alpha-numeric suffix, unique when used in conjunction with the Strathprints prefix)

Combined, the DOI will look like this: 10.17868/strath.00089185, but will resolve to https://strathprints.strath.ac.uk/89185/ 

The advantages of having a DOI

  • It makes your research output uniquely identifiable
  • As the author of that research, you will always be identified with it
  • It makes research easy to locate via search engines
  • It makes data or articles simple for people to cite
  • It allows the co-authors to track the impact of an output via its Altmetric score

Getting a DOI for a published journal article

The two most common DOI providers (registration agencies) in the UK are the Britsh Library with the DataCite hub and CrossRef. 

For journal articles and similar outputs, it is usually the publisher of the research which assigns the DOI. Crossref assigns a DOI prefix and a stack of DOIs to a publisher (that can be a university or other research-performing organisation) and this is usually provided by CrossRef. DataCite issued DOIs (via the BL in the UK) are generally used for uniquely identifying research data.

You can find more information about getting a DOI on the DOI Foundation website.

DOIs for data

When you submit research data to Pure at Strathclyde, you will be provided with a DataCite DOI through the University's licensing agreement with the British Library. If you require a DOI for a dataset, please contact researchdataproject@strath.ac.uk

Note: we cannot yet assign versioned DOIs. This means that some metadata fields (creator/s, title, publisher, publication date and unique identifier) cannot be changed once a DOI has been assigned. It also means that you cannot add to or amend the data. For an amended dataset, a new record should be created with a new DOI.

DOIs for 'grey literature'

The Open Access team can ‘mint’ a DOI for grey literature and publish this material via Strathprints when you are the author or a contributor.

What is grey literature?

Getting a DOI for grey literature

What do I need to provide?

  What is grey literature?

  • Grey literature is information produced outside of traditional publishing and distribution channels and can include reports, policy literature, working papers, newsletters, government documents, speeches, white papers, urban plans, and so on.
  • This information is often produced by organizations "on the ground" (such as government and inter-governmental agencies, non-governmental organisations, and industry) to store information and report on activities, either for their own use or wider sharing and distribution, and without the delays and restrictions of commercial and academic publishing. For that reason, grey literature can be more current than literature in scholarly journals. Grey literature (usually) does not go through a peer review process.
  • These outputs are generally unpublished in the same way that traditional journal articles and monographs go through an established publishing process. We can help you to obtain a DOI for unpublished reports, that you have produced or contributed to, and publish and disseminate these via Strathprints. 

 Getting a DOI for grey literature

Please use this web form to access this service with the details requested below.

What do I need to provide?

To be eligible for a DOI, the output should not already have a DOI, Strathprints should be the primary publication point for the output, and the output should not be subject to a permanent embargo.

To request a DOI please provide the following information to the team with a copy of the output to be uploaded to Pure via the Strathclyde DOI Service web form. DOI requests for reports and working papers should normally have an author affiliated with the University or acknowledge funding held at the University. If your item is not suitable for a University of Strathclyde DOI, we can help you to identify an appropriate DOI provider.

  • Date of publication
  • Title
  • Authors
  • Abstract (if you have it)
  • Anything else you think might be useful

We then create a record for this in PURE and validate the record, which transfers to Strathprints.  We then give the researcher a note of what the DOI will be, but the link will not be live. 

The DOI is registered and we make the link live as soon as we receive the final version of the report.  Once the DOI has been registered we cannot make any changes to the PURE/Strathprints record, so we need confirmation before it is registered that all of the information provided is accurate and the report received will not change in any way.

The DOI link will resolve to the Strathprints record for this report where an open access version (with a CC-BY licence) will be made available.

Once the Open Access team have registered a DOI for your grey literature output, this will link, (or ‘resolve’) to the Strathprints URL and will be displayed in the metadata for that output. Indexing will be maximised for this output as we will 'push' the DOI to Google Scholar. This is the reason why it makes sense to add the full DOI URL on the cover of the document for which the DOI has been issued.

Open Access Publishing FAQs

SPRD provides support for publishing reports and other types of grey literature.

Please use this web form or email the Open Access team (openaccess@strath.ac.uk) at the earliest opportunity to request this service. To be eligible for a DOI to be minted, the output should not already have a DOI, Strathprints should be the primary publication point for the output, and the output should not be subject to a permanent embargo.

  • To request a DOI please provide the following information to the team: 
    • Date of publication
    • Title
    • Authors
    • Abstract (if you have it)
    • Anything else you think might be useful
    • A PDF copy of the output to be uploaded to Pure and made publicly available 
  • Where the item is already available online, we require the URL; Author names; Authors’ ORCiD; Publisher 

Once the Open Access team have minted a DOI for your grey literature output, this will link, or ‘resolve’, to the Strathprints URL and will be displayed in the metadata for that output 

If you're publishing a book or certain serials, you should use an ISBN or ISSN to maximise visibility and circulation.

The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is a numeric commercial book identifier that is intended to be unique.  An ISBN is assigned to each separate edition and variation (except reprintings) of a publication. For example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book will each have a different ISBN.

An International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) is a serial number used to uniquely identify a serial publication, such as a journal or magazine.

  • If you need an ISBN for a book published under the University Press imprint, visit Information Services
  • If you need an ISSN for a journal or serial publication, these are provided by the British Library free of charge.

If you publish your journal or book through the University, an ISBN/ISSN can be assigned to your work.  Please see the Library webpage for more details.  

If you're publishing a book or certain serials, you should use an ISBN or ISSN to maximise visibility and circulation.

Contact the library's ISBN and ISSN service. 

 

If you are planning a conference with the University of Strathclyde as the publisher of the proceedings, you may wish to have DOIs created for the papers. This can be a substantial effort in terms of planning and support. Please contact irsa-enquiries@strath.ac.uk in advance. 

We will deposit the articles in Strathprints and provide DOIs

We provide no Open Journals System at present (OJS). DOIs for reports and grey literature are provided according to our available staffing resources and the technical capabilities of the repository. An overlay journal or aligned journal service is a much more substantial commitment. Various organisations provide an open journal service.

Research identifiers are unique alphanumeric codes assigned to various elements within the research ecosystem to ensure precise identification, reliable attribution, and easier access.

Research identifiers facilitate the organisation, identification, and retrieval of scholarly work. Research identifiers are core tools that enhance the clarity, accessibility, and integrity of scholarly communication, making the research ecosystem more efficient and reliable.

  • They provide unique identification for research outputs and researchers. Identifiers make it easier to locate and access research materials.
  • They enable the linking of related research outputs, datasets, and author profiles across various platforms and databases.
  • Identifiers help ensure that researchers receive proper credit for their work. ORCID iDs, for example, uniquely identify authors, ensuring that their contributions are correctly attributed regardless of name changes, or common names. 
  • They assist institutions, funders, and publishers in tracking and managing research outputs. This is vital for reporting purposes, compliance with funding requirements, and evaluating the impact of funded research. 
  • Identifiers facilitate collaboration by making it easier to find potential research partners and their work. Researchers can quickly assess the output and impact of potential collaborators through their ORCID profiles or the citation records linked to their DOIs.
  • Persistent identifiers ensure that even as digital formats and platforms evolve, the research remains accessible. This long-term stability is crucial for the preservation of scholarly records.

 

ORCID

The ORCID ID is a unique and persistent identifier for researchers which ensures their work is accessible in a variety of systems. Each reseracher will be assigned an ORCID when registered on Pure?

For Organisations: ROR - Research Organization Registry

A unique identifier for every research organization in the world.  The University of Strathclyde's ROR ID: https://ror.org/00n3w3b69 

For Projects: RAiD - Research Activity Identifier

A unique identifier for a research project. Initiated in Australia, work is ongoing to roll the scheme out across the UK.  

Minor editorial or content changes to a report or other type of grey literature which has previously had a DOI created will not require the minting of a new DOI. 

More significant changes or updates to the intellectual content of the publication, including alterations to metadata such as Title and Author names will require a new record and DOI. A new version can be linked to the original if required and/or the original hidden from public view. Contact irsa-enquiries@strath.ac.uk in advance if you need to update an existing publication.