Q. How do I find a journal article's DOI?
A DOI (digital object identifier) is a unique number assigned to a digital object such as a journal article. Webpage URLs may change over time but the DOI will remain the same. When providing a list of publications for your curriculum vitae or promotion and tenure dossier, including DOIs can help reviewers easily find your articles. Keep in mind that not all articles will have a DOI. The DOI system was announced in 1997 therefore older articles may not have DOIs unless a journal retrospectively assigned them.
DOIs typically appear in two formats, a string of numbers and letters alone or the same string with an https prefix:
- 10.1172/JCI181471
- https://doi.org/ 10.1172/JCI181471
The following are ways to find a DOI:
- If you are viewing the article in a database (such as PubMed) or the journal's website, the DOI typically appears next to the article citation near the top of the page.
- If you do not see the DOI in the database or journal website, go to http://www.crossref.org/ and search metadata using the article title and author's name to find its DOI.
Example in PubMed:
Example in a journal website:
