Is it possible to remove records entirely?

Is it possible for a publisher to completely remove a record from Crossref? If so, is there any record anywhere of where this has been done in the past?

Many thanks (and apologies if this has been asked before, I had a look but couldn’t find it!)

Hi Adam,

No, that’s not possible. It’s a core premise built into the DOI system as a whole that DOIs are persistant. So there’s literally no mechanism to delete them. And each DOI that’s registered with Crossref has to have a metadata record in our system. The metadata can be changed and updated as needed, but the record can’t be removed.

There are a few different reasons that people sometimes ask about record deletion, and each has its own workaround. We have some more information about this on our documentation site.

If your situation isn’t covered there, feel free to provide additional details here, or contact us at support@crossref.org with details, and we’ll be happy to advise.

-Shayn

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