IV · 28

Journal Article by DOI

An OpenURL identifying a journal article by DOI alone, with an attached source identifier. The smallest useful form for citations that have a DOI.

Scenario

A bibliographic database wishes to refer the user to the 1935 Einstein, Podolsky, and Rosen paper. The paper has a registered DOI, so the OpenURL carries the DOI directly and omits descriptive metadata. A source identifier names the database.

OpenURL

https://resolver.example.edu/openurl?
url_ver=Z39.88-2004
&ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004
&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:journal
&rft_id=info:doi/10.1103/PhysRev.47.777
&rfr_id=info:sid/example.com:database

Decoded

ctx_ver
Z39.88-2004 — the OpenURL Framework version.
rft_val_fmt
info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:journal — the Referent is described using the Journal KEV format.
rft_id
info:doi/10.1103/PhysRev.47.777 — the Referent identified by DOI.
rfr_id
info:sid/example.com:database — the source database that generated the request.

Notes

  • The DOI 10.1103/PhysRev.47.777 is real: it is the Einstein–Podolsky–Rosen paper, Physical Review 47(10), 777–780.
  • Even though no descriptive metadata is supplied, the resolver can use the DOI to retrieve full metadata from Crossref if needed.
  • Strictly, rft_val_fmt is only required when rft.* keys are present. Including it in an identifier-only request is common practice and gives the resolver a hint about the item type.
  • For maximum link quality, sources often include descriptive metadata alongside the DOI. See Journal Article by Metadata for the metadata-only form, and combine.
  • To resolve a DOI directly without going through an institutional resolver, the DOI proxy at doi.org accepts OpenURL syntax. See OpenURL & DOI.

Sources