Library Update

The joy of linking - DOI or Digital Object Identifier

The DOI or Digital Object Identifier is the unsung hero that underpins linking to published research across the web.  Each journal article published has a unique 10 digit DOI. Embedded in the DOI is the identity of the publisher or organisation that issued it together with an identifier for an individual item.  The DOI enables you to find an original copy of an article on the Web. If you've ever wondered how it might be useful to you, here are a few things that you can do with it:

• Generate a unique link to the source of the article by adding a prefix to the DOI  - https://doi.org/  for example  https://doi.org/10.1136/emermed-2013-202928
• The DOI is required in some citation styles for example APA
• To shorten URLs generated by some publishers and databases to a manageable length
• To import articles easily into Reference Management Software such as Mendeley 
• To identify your unpublished work, you need to publish as a PrePrint or Deposit Data with a data repository to generate a DOI.