FAQ: What is a DOI and where can I find one on an electronic resource?

What is a DOI?

DOI stands for "digital object identifier." It is a unique string of letters and numbers that is only connected to one digital object, or resource, on the internet (such as a single journal article, an ebook, etc.). Because it is unique to each digital object, the DOI provides a way to link persistently to that object, and it can also be expressed as a URL.

This is an example DOI (invented for the purpose of this FAQ): 10.4376/6630-4660.21.2.001

This is what that DOI would look like as a URL: https://doi.org/10.4376/6630-4660.21.2.001

You can learn more about DOIs on the DOI Foundation's website.

Where can I find a DOI?

Not every online resource has a DOI. For a library resource, if a DOI is available, you will usually see it on the resource's record page or on the first page of the resource.

Here is an example record page:

Here is an example first page for an article: