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Research Data Management - Research Guide

DOI Minting

Minting a DOI for your dataset

What is a DOI?

A DOI is a unique string of numbers, letters and symbols (starting with ‘10.’) that identifies a digital object and provides a permanent link to its location and related metadata (information about the object) on the web. If the object is open access, it will be available for download from this page.

DOIs are the most commonly used identifier for research and publications and are an internationally recognised and supported standard, governed by the International DOI Foundation.

What are the benefits of a DOI?

DOIs make research output easily identifiable, findable and accessible through a persistent and never-changing link to the digital object and its metadata. DOIs ensure the long-term use and citation of research outputs and research data for impact analysis.

DOIs are also an integral component of ensuring research data and scholarly content are FAIR: Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable, aligning with FAIR principles and helping to meet funder mandates.

Murdoch University's Research Portal and minting DOIs

The process of creating and assigning a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) to an object is known as DOI minting.

Murdoch University’s Research Portal is an authorised agent to mint DOIs via the Australian Research Data Commons (ARDC) DataCite DOI Service for research datasets published by Murdoch University. DataCite is a non-profit organisation dedicated to making data and scholarly content more accessible and citable. DOI registration is DataCite’s core activity.

Currently, Murdoch mints DataCite DOIs for research datasets only.

DataCite DOI minting criteria

For a dataset in the Research Portal to be assigned/minted a DOI, it must:

  • Not already have a DOI elsewhere
  • Be published by Murdoch University
  • Have persistently open metadata where the research data itself is either open (available by direct download), restricted/mediated or temporarily embargoed . Permanently closed research data is not eligible for a DOI, as per DataCite's requirements.
  • Include, at a minimum, the following metadata: Title, Authors/Creators, Publisher (i.e. Murdoch University), Publication Year, and an Abstract/Summary

How do I request a DOI for my dataset?

To request a DOI, first ensure it meets the criteria above, then deposit your research dataset into the Research Portal, and email the Library’s Research Repository at repository@murdoch.edu.au with your request.