Getting Started with DOIs in the IR

Maintaining a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the repository and the publication is important when registering DOIs:

• Regardless of whether the repository holds the Crossref membership and acts as a Sponsoring Member for the publication, or the publication holds the Crossref membership and the repository manages DOIs on its behalf, then the publication needs to grant the repository authority to do so.

• Journals must have an ISSN to register article DOIs. If the repository will act on behalf of the publisher to register one or more ISSNs with the Library of Congress, then the publication needs to grant the repository authority to do so.

• If the repository will facilitate inclusion of the publication's content in 3rd-party indexes, then the publication needs to grant the repository authority to do so.

• If the publication were ever to withdraw its content from the repository, then landing pages, maintenance, and/or "ownership" of the DOIs may change. The repository and the publication should have guidelines on place for how to manage such changes if they arise.

For an example MOU that addresses these topics, see here: http://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1010&context=dc-promo

Journals must have an ISSN to register article DOIs with Crossref. The ISSN is a standard identifier for serials (e.g., journals, magazines, newsletters, newspapers, annuals) whether published in print, online, or other media. Each medium version is assigned a unique ISSN.

The U.S. ISSN Center, part of the international ISSN Network, assigns International Standard Serial Numbers (ISSN) to serials published in the U.S. Applying for ISSNs is free. For more information and instructions, see here: http://loc.gov/issn/form/

We recommend that, if the repository will be applying for or maintaining ISSNs on behalf of a hosted publication, that this authority be established in advance with a signed MOU.