LibGuides: Referencing and Avoiding Plagiarism: DOI's and Permalinks

When referencing online resources such as eBooks, journal articles or webpages, you are often required to include a URL (or link) in the reference so the resource can be easily accessed online if required. Usually, the web address in your browser toolbar can be used when referencing a webpage. However, if you use this address in a reference for a resource you have accessed through the library's databases, it will commonly break or expire.

This means your reader (or lecturer) cannot easily access the online resources you have referenced to verify the information for themselves. Ensuring that the person reading your assignment can easily locate the source where you found the information is an important aspect of referencing so it is equally important that the URL's you use in your references resolve for your reader.

There two main types of URL's that are commonly included in references for online resources, DOI's and Permalinks. See the guidance below for more information on how to use DOI's and Permalinks in your references.

What is a DOI?

A DOI, or Digital Object Identifier, is a series of numbers, letters and symbols used to permanently identify a digital resource. DOI's give a digital resource (journal article, conference paper, document or eBook) a unique, persistent identifier that does not change. You can include a DOI in a reference to allow your reader to easily access the resource online.

Where to find a DOI

DOI's always start with 10 and can be be found either on the record page (if searching on Discovery or in a database) or within the resource itself (often on the first page or in the header or footer of a journal article for example).

N.B. Not all articles or resources have a DOI.

How to include a DOI in a reference

You can include a DOI at the end of a reference to allow your reader to easily access the resource online. DOI's are formatted in different ways depending on the referencing style you are required to use:

Harvard

DOI format:

https://doi.org/10.1186/s40991-022-00074-0

Reference example:

Carrera, L. (2022) 'Corporate social responsibility: A strategy for social and territorial sustainability', International Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility, 7(1), pp. 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40991-022-00074-0

APA

DOI format:

https://doi.org/10.1177/1440783317743810

Reference example:

Huppatz, K., & Ross-Smith, A. (2017). A discipline at the crossroads? Using a gender-inspired paradigm to reposition the sociology of work and employment. Journal of Sociology, 53(4), 756-770. https://doi.org/10.1177/1440783317743810

IEEE

DOI format:

doi: 10.1145/3368454.

Reference example:

[16] P. Castro, V. Ishakian, V. Muthusamy, and A. Slominski, ‘The rise of serverless computing’, Commun. ACM, vol. 62, no. 12, pp. 44-54, Nov. 2019, doi: 10.1145/3368454.

N.B. In Harvard/IEEE style, if an online resource does not have a DOI, then you should include you should include a URL instead (see guidance on Permalinks below). In APA style, if there is no DOI available, URL's are only included in certain circumstances (see here for more information).

How to access a digital resource using a DOI

There are different ways to use a DOI to access a digital resource. If a DOI starts with http:// or https://, you can simply paste it into your web browser. This will usually lead you to a journal publisher's page for the article.

You can turn any DOI starting with 10 into a URL by adding http://doi.org/ before the DOI. For example, 10.1177/1088868317720362 becomes https://doi.org/10.1177/1088868317720362. You can then paste this in your web browser to easily access the resource.

What is a Permalink?

If an online resource doesn't have a DOI you can use a permalink or persistent link in the reference instead. A permalink is a stable URL that will not change, break or expire. Many databases have an option for creating a persistent link - see below for instructions on how to create a permalink in different library databases:

Library Catalogue (eBook):

Locate the eBook you want to link to and open the record page by clicking on the title
Right click on the green 'Connect to eBook here' button
Select 'Copy link address'
Paste the link into your reference

Discovery:

Locate the resource (eBook, journal article etc.) you want to link to and open the record page by clicking on the title
Click on the Share arrow at the top of the record page
Then select Create link to generate a permalink
Copy the permalink and paste it into your reference

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Keith Brittle	Shannon Mallon	Isobel Dunne