Introduction

A DOI, or Digital Object Identifier, is a string of numbers, letters and symbols used to permanently identify an article or document and link to it on the web. A DOI will help your reader easily locate a document from your citation. Think of it like a Social Security number for the article you’re citing — it will always refer to that article, and only that one. While a web address (URL) might change, the DOI will never change.

 

Where can I find the DOI?

  • In most recently published articles, the DOI will be printed with the article itself, usually on the first page somewhere, or in the header or footer.
  • If the DOI isn’t on the article, look it up on the website CrossRef.org (use the “Search Metadata” option).

 

How can I use a DOI to find the article it refers to?

  • The recommended format for DOIs since 2011 is an active link, so if your DOI starts with http:// or https://, simply paste it into your web browser. This will usually lead you to a journal publisher’s page for the article.
  • Pre-2011, DOIs started with the number 10 (and some are still formatted this way). You can turn any DOI into a URL by adding http://doi.org/ before the DOI. For example, http://doi.org/10.3352/jeehp.2013.10.3
  • If you’re off campus when you do this, you’ll need to use this URL prefix in front of the DOI to gain access to UIC’s full text journal subscriptions: https://proxy.cc.uic.edu/login?url=https://doi.org/ or, for example, https://proxy.cc.uic.edu/login?url=http://doi.org/10.3352/jeehp.2013.10.3
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