A DOI (Digital Object Identifier) is an identifier of a digital object (for example and scholarly / academic article published in an online journal, a chapter of an e-book, an electronic resource) that is assigned regardless of the URL of the object, so if it changes, the digital object is still identified by the DOI which will resolve to its new URL. This makes it widely used in electronic publications such as online scientific journals because the articles can be cited by their DOI (which will persist over time) instead of being cited by their current URL address which will surely change over time.
In practice, the DOI is a link that directs the user to the current location of the digital object. For example, the following DOI: 10.1109/5.771073, resolves the article "Toward unique identifiers" published by IEEE on its website. https://doi.org/10.1109/5.771073 -> https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/771073
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What is needed to register and assign DOIs to articles in an academic journal?
You must have credentials and a unique prefix The unique prefix is assigned to an entity by which it is identified, later using the credentials it is possible to register DOIs by several methods, frequently through plugins in OJS (Open Journal Systems).
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How do I get a prefix and credentials to starting using DOIs?
DOIs are managed by the International DOI Foundation (IDF), which allows 10 DOI Registration Agency (RA) as providers of related services. Crossref is the most important of the agencies, and in turn usually relies on Sponsor organizations to offer services to guarantee a quick, close and quality support. Cultural Hosting is a Crossref Sponsoring Organization, and therefore, we can help you obtain the unique prefix and credentials for your entity.