DOI stands for 'Digital Object Identifier'.
It is a unique, never changing code that can be assigned to pieces of information such as journal articles, conference papers, reports etc. Many (but not all) publishers use them so that each item they produce has a persistent and stable link. This is different to a regular web page URL which can change over time, for example if a page is moved. We've all seen error messages like '404 page not found' when URLs have changed. DOI's are designed to stop this happening.
Cite Them Right has a short video on this topic (login may be required) - What are DOIs?
Why is this important in Harvard referencing?
DOIs are very useful when it comes to Cite Them Right style Harvard referencing. For most items that you access online, CTR asks that you include an accessed date so that if the link does break in the future your reader can see when it was that you last accessed it and therefore gives an indication of when it was available.
If your source does have a DOI then you are not NOT required to include an accessed date; just the DOI link is enough because it is a stable link. But remember that the current edition of CTR asks you to prefix the number with the standard wording ' Available at: https://doi.org/ '
For example:
- Barke, M., Mowl, G. and Shields, G. (2010) ‘Málaga – a failed resort of the early twentieth century?’, Journal of Tourism History, 2(3), pp. 187–212. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1080/1755182X.2010.523145
- Iacobellis, G. (2020) ‘COVID-19 and diabetes: can DPP4 inhibition play a role?’, Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice, 162, article number 108125. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.diabres.2020.108125
It is important to note that the DOI will always link to the version of record for the item, usually on the Publishers' website. This may not be where you, the student, accessed the article as most of the Library resources are housed in the subject databases such as Ebsco and Proquest. In these cases the DOI links in your references will not be able to link your reader to the University-subscribed copy.
How can I see if an item has a DOI or not?
If a DOI has been assigned it should be very visible on the document - look at the top of the page around the area where the title, author, volume, issue etc. information normally is. Some publishers and databases write it in full with the 'https://doi.org/' prefix, others shorten it to just the start of the code string beginning with '10'.
The following examples are all for the same article, with the DOI located in slightly different places depending on how you have accessed it:
- Viewing a journal article on a web page - the DOI is listed after the page numbers
- Viewing a PDF of the article - the DOI is to the top right of the page
3. Viewing the record of the journal article on the LibrarySearch catalogue - the full record needs to be opened as the DOI is not visible in the results list - scroll down towards the bottom of the page and look in the 'Source Identifier' box
