Restrictions for access to a DOI

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Hello. Could you tell me the reasons why an institution would not access a DOI?
What type of restrictions are there for access to a DOI?

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Hi @Cristian ,

Thanks for your message, and welcome to the community forum.

Could you tell me the reasons why an institution would not access a DOI?

A Crossref DOI should resolve to the landing page on the Crossref member’s website. Here’s what we ask our members to provide on those landing pages:

The landing page for published content should be unique for that item and should contain:

  • Full bibliographic information: so that the user can verify they have been delivered to the correct item
  • The DOI displayed as a URL: so that if a reader wishes to cite this item, they can just copy and paste the DOI link (learn more about our DOI display guidelines)
  • A way to access the full-text of the content: It’s acceptable for the full text to be behind a login or paywall - this is fine as long as the landing page is accessible to everyone. A DOI can resolve to the HTML full-text of the content, and if this page includes the criteria above, a separate landing page is not necessary. It’s not good practice to link directly to a PDF however, as it will start downloading when the DOI is clicked.

Here are some examples of landing pages for published content:

Now, a DOI that has not yet been registered will resolve to a DOI NOT FOUND error on doi.org, like this example: https://doi.org/10.5555/unregisteredDOI , so that could be one reason why a DOI is not resolving.

As for the full-text versions of the content itself, they could be behind a paywall. That’s fairly common.

What type of restrictions are there for access to a DOI?

DOIs should resolve to landing pages that are accessible to the public. Do you have an example of a Crossref DOI that is not accessible?

Looking forward to hearing from you,
Isaac

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I would like to note that DOIs themselves do not inherently impose restrictions on access; rather, it’s the content linked to the DOI and the policies of the content provider or publisher that determine access conditions. If you encounter difficulties accessing content via a DOI, it’s advisable to check with the publisher or content provider for information on access restrictions and requirements.

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Dear @ifarley, thanks for your answer in advance.

The university is implementing the first scientific journal, which is hosted on the university’s general website.
The magazine’s documents are in PDF format and it does not have a specific website just for the articles.
Could this create any issues with the DOI assignment, or is it necessary to separate the journal information to a single site where only the journal information appears?

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Hi @Cristian ,

Journal article DOIs are really citation identifiers. If we take that foundational concept and apply it to your question, it’s clear that a journal article DOI needs to resolve directly to the content in question in order for it to function as a citation identifier. Also, in order for the user experience to be straightforward and clear, you want all of the DOIs you register to resolve directly to the content in question - that can either be a landing page specific to the content (ideally in HTML, that’s best practice) OR directly to the content itself.

My best,
Isaac