How do I handle inaccessible DOIs when citing papers?

Question

When writing a paper, it's not that seldom, that I want to cite papers where a DOI is given but cannot be accessed (anymore). Quite frequently, the corresponding DOI is also presented within the PDF document of the paper that I want to cite, which is also not accessible (anymore).

The intention of DOIs was to guarantee permanent access to documents and unify it, but in reality, some are broken over time. Furthermore, not every DOI lookup website does have a complete list of all DOIs.

My primary question is: Is there some common practice how to handle this situation? Should I provide the DOI as well in my references, even though it is not accessible anymore? (Maybe it could still be accessible with some other DOI lookup website?)

What is the best DOI lookup tool? Is there something better than https://doi.org?

Answer 1

I'm from Crossref. The DOI should always resolve to some location, even if the content has moved location on the web or has changed publisher. Can you share the example so we can get it reported? It's possible it's not a Crossref DOI of course (there are several other DOI agencies) but I can find out from the DOI. The prefix does often denote a particular publisher but journals change hands frequently as societies negotiate different publishing agreements so that's not necessarily a failsafe way to solve the problem (which I agree should not be your problem!). Happy to help if you share the example(s) :-)

Answer 2

I'm also from Crossref. Broken DOI links aren't good and we do try and fix them. If you get the "DOI Not Found" error page -for example when following this link - https://doi.org/10.15680/IJIRSET.2019.0806081 - it means that the DOI hasn't been registered. If you fill in the form then this error is reported to the appropriate Registration Agency. In Crossref's case we notify the publisher of the error and ask them to fix the problem - it usually gets fixed but if the publisher has ceased operations or isn't a Crossref member anymore the link may not be able to be fixed. Where archiving arrangements are in place the DOI can be redirected to archived copies of the content.

Answer 3

While not as volatile as URLs, DOIs still can be revoked or otherwise become unavailable.

In your case, consider if there is a chance that the DOI could become available again (there might be technical difficulties with the host) or whether there is another available source (another DOI). Personally, I would include the DOI in the bibliography and send a message to the author(s) or the provider (this should not be your problem to solve).

All accessible DOIs can be searched with Crossref (search by title, author, DOI and other metadata).

Answer 4

While DOIs are very convenient, it may actually not be a problem if it is broken. Usually, citations include author(s) name(s), journal name, journal issue, year and possibly page reference and article title. With this information alone you should be able to find a referenced article using the traditional method. Therefore, DOIs can be considered a convenience service with not too big of a fallout if they break. Another convenient "service" is to ask a librarian at your institution if you have difficulties finding a referenced source.

Furthermore, keep in mind that a DOI might simply contain a typo and can thus not be resolved correctly. This can of course also happen with traditional referencing, but there it is usually easier to see that the article from "Nautre" is actually published in "Nature".

Lastly, I would like to point out that the internet has other tools to resolve DOIs than the usual websites. For example, I can easily find the article you mentioned in the comments by using a regular internet search engine.

Answer 5

This answer is partially derived from other answers and comments for this question:

Answer for question 1

Despite the fact that DOIs should stay operational/accessible, there exist different reasons why they can become inaccessible:

1. Some publishers might vanish over time. In this case a DOI authority can be contacted to report the broken DOI.

2. A publisher might have been merged with another publisher. In case such a DOI is broken, the publisher or a DOI authority could be notified. Usually, the new publisher can fix it.

3. Some papers might be revoked after publication. In this case a DOI authority should be contacted so that the DOI does not link to a URL which e.g. does not exist anymore.

4. A domain of a publisher might be down temporarily. This case can be tested by loading other Web pages of the same publisher. If several pages are down at the same time, it's advisable to wait for some hours and then again check the state of the domain. Just some patience might solve this issue.

5. A technical problem with a specific Website of the publisher's domain might exist. E.g. the content could have been moved to a different location/address. This can be tested, by checking other Web pages of the same publisher. If they work properly, it's most likely that a specific Website has some issue which needs to be fixed by the publisher. Thus, the publisher should be informed.

6. Sometimes, when papers were recently published, the DOI might already exist but the paper is not yet accessible. In case of very fresh papers, just some patience might solve this issue, until the content is uploaded properly.

7. Some papers may be fake as well or the publisher might provide low quality papers. In case a DOI is inaccessible, it can be useful to check the trustworthiness of a publisher:

   • Is it a rather unknown publisher?
   • Does the website look suspicious?
   • Are there many typos in the papers or on the publisher's Web domain?
   • Has the publisher published papers only for e.g. 1 or 2 years?
   • Are there several papers with inaccessible DOIs of this publisher?
   • Can you find other inconsistencies?
   • Optional and not recommended in general: Has this paper never been cited by another author or by very few authors (citation count)? This is not a general recommendation, since every fresh paper has to start with a citation count of zero. Furthermore, it is not always perfectly transparent how the citation counts are created by existing systems. Different systems may report different citation counts. Furthermore, the citation count will hardly be completely accurate. If considered, this should only be seen as some small indicator in combination with other criteria.

   The more questions can be answered with yes, the more suspicious it is that the publisher might be fraudulent. It may also happen that this publisher is a "low quality" publisher, which provides low quality papers, without an extended peer review process. In any mentioned case, it is recommended to consider finding alternative papers probably also from other publishers, if possible.

8. The DOI points to the wrong paper. If a DOI points to the wrong paper or content, then a DOI authority should be informed.

9. Some typo might exist in the DOI. Finally, it is also possible, that there is just some typo in the given DOI.

In case of doubt, one can also simply perform a web search (e.g. Google or Google Scholar, etc.) with a search string containing the title and the authors of a paper to look it up and to check the corresponding DOI. Sometimes there may also exist a different (and operational) DOI for the paper.

Answer for question 2

https://doi.org and https://crossref.org are two excellent domains for DOI lookup.

Answer 6

Summarizing some useful comments in an answer as suggested:

The journal seems to be fraudulent. The name alone is suspicious

International Journal of Innovative Research in Science, Engineering and Technology

@Ander Biguri nicknamed it "Journal of everything you'd pay me to publish" in one comment, which seems appropriate when reading the website of the publisher:

"Fast review & Publication within 12 to 24 hours"

It may be that the DOIs never expired but rather were faked from the start by the journal as @Glenn Willen points out in another comment.