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OJS for EveryoneThe Practical GuidebookRSYN Research LLP

Tutorial: Enable DOIs with CrossRef

Role: Journal Manager
Time: 30–60 minutes
OJS Version: 3.5+

This tutorial walks you through enabling the DOI identifier plugin in OJS 3.5+, configuring your CrossRef credentials, and registering DOIs for articles and issues.

Before You Start​

  • Your journal is a CrossRef member (or sponsored member). Sign up at crossref.org.
  • You have your CrossRef depositor name, depositor email, and account password.
  • Your journal has a confirmed ISSN (print and/or online).
  • You are logged in as Journal Manager.
Not a CrossRef Member?

You can still assign DOIs locally without registering them with CrossRef. However, DOIs will not resolve until you register. CrossRef membership costs start at $275/year for independent publishers (2025 rates).

Step 1 — Enable the DOI Plugin​

  1. Navigate to Settings → Website → Plugins.
  2. Click the Installed Plugins tab.
  3. Find DOI in the list (under the Public Identifier Plugins category).
  4. Toggle the switch to Enabled.
  5. Click the Settings link next to the DOI plugin.

Step 2 — Configure DOI Settings​

In the DOI plugin settings:

Enable for Content Types​

Tick the content types you want to assign DOIs to:

  • Articles
  • Issues (optional, but recommended)
  • Galleys (typically not required unless publisher policy mandates it)

DOI Prefix​

Enter your CrossRef-assigned DOI prefix, e.g.:

10.12345

Every DOI you register will begin with this prefix.

DOI Suffix Pattern​

Choose how the suffix (unique part) is generated:

PatternExample DOINotes
%j.v%vi%i%a10.12345/jor.v14i2.123Journal + volume + issue + submission ID
%j.%Y%m.%a10.12345/jor.202501.123Journal + year + month + submission ID
Custom patternYour own formatUse %j, %a, %v, %i, %Y, %m tokens

Click the pattern token reference in the settings page to see all available tokens.

Assign DOIs​

Choose when DOIs are assigned:

  • When article is published — automatic on publication (recommended)
  • When article is scheduled — assigned earlier in the workflow
  1. Click Save.

Step 3 — Enable the CrossRef Export Plugin​

  1. Navigate to Settings → Website → Plugins → Installed Plugins.
  2. Find CrossRef XML Export Plugin (under Import/Export Plugins).
  3. Toggle to Enabled.
  4. Click Settings next to the CrossRef plugin.
  5. Fill in:
FieldValue
Depositor NameYour name or journal name
Depositor EmailYour CrossRef account email
CrossRef LoginYour CrossRef username
CrossRef PasswordYour CrossRef password
  1. Click Save.

Step 4 — Assign DOIs to Existing Articles​

For articles published before you enabled DOIs:

  1. Navigate to Tools → Import/Export → CrossRef XML Export Plugin.
  2. Click the Articles tab.
  3. You will see all published articles.
  4. Select the articles that need DOIs assigned.
  5. Click Assign DOIs to generate DOI suffixes for the selected articles.

Step 5 — Register DOIs with CrossRef​

Automatic Registration​

OJS 3.5+ can automatically register DOIs with CrossRef when articles are published:

  1. In the CrossRef plugin settings (Step 3), enable Automatic deposit.
  2. Ensure the OJS cron job is running (required for automatic deposits):
0 * * * * php /path/to/ojs/lib/pkp/tools/scheduler.php run

Manual Registration​

To register DOIs manually:

  1. Navigate to Tools → Import/Export → CrossRef XML Export Plugin.
  2. Click the Articles tab.
  3. Select the articles to register.
  4. Click Deposit.

OJS submits the metadata XML to CrossRef. Successful deposits show a green ✓; failures show in red with an error message.

Testing Mode

Before going live, use CrossRef's test environment (test.crossref.org). In the CrossRef plugin settings, enable Test Mode to submit to the test server without creating real DOIs.

Step 6 — Verify DOI Registration​

After depositing:

  1. Log in to your CrossRef account.
  2. Go to Submission → Metadata → Query Submission Status.
  3. Enter your depositor email and check the status of your submissions.
  4. Or use CrossRef's metadata search to find your DOIs.

Newly registered DOIs may take a few minutes to an hour to resolve.

Step 7 — Display DOIs on Article Pages​

OJS displays DOIs automatically on article landing pages once assigned. To verify:

  1. Navigate to a published article on your journal website.
  2. The DOI should appear in the article metadata panel, e.g.: 
    https://doi.org/10.12345/jor.v14i2.123
  3. Click the DOI link to confirm it resolves correctly.

DOI Best Practices​

  • Assign DOIs before publication — once a DOI is registered, the article URL must never return a 404.
  • Permanent URLs — ensure article URLs are stable and your journal domain does not change.
  • Update metadata — if an article's metadata changes after registration, re-deposit to CrossRef using the same DOI.
  • Issue DOIs — assigning DOIs to issues helps with COUNTER statistics and issue-level citation tracking.
  • ORCID integration — combine DOI registration with ORCID to link authors to their works.

Troubleshooting​

ProblemSolution
DOI not generatingCheck the DOI prefix is entered correctly (e.g., 10.12345 — no trailing slash)
CrossRef deposit failsVerify credentials; check that the article has title, author, and publication date metadata
DOI resolves to 404The article URL has changed — update the URL in your CrossRef account metadata
Duplicate DOI errorEach article must have a unique suffix — check your suffix pattern for collisions
Test deposits not showingTest deposits go to CrossRef test servers — they are not visible in your live account

Next Steps​