PIDs and repositories: experiences & practical issues of implementing DOIs for content

Perspectives from Strathclyde (Strathprints)

George Macgregor
University of Strathclyde
https://purl.org/g3om4c

The 'technical' bit: what are PIDs?

PID = persistent identifier

• PIDs come in many flavours, e.g. DOI, ORCID, RAiD, ROR, etc. -- and beyond!
• Enables long-term identification but also 'actionability' because they are (generally) formed as URIs
• PIDs usually underpinned by some form of registry which registers new PIDs and resolves them (and contains metadata!) (e.g. DataCite, CrossRef)

Why have PIDs?

PID = persistent identification

• Provides unique and persistent reference to an entity normally accessible over the Internet
• Maintenance of the scholarly record - citability, verification, reproducibility, replicability
• 'Reference rot' / 'link rot' - e.g Klein, Van de Sompel et al.
• Uniquely identify entities on the web; enables discovery these entities -- happy times!
• Encode PIDs within metadata to link and grow the utility of data

The 'PID graph'...

TIB – Leibniz Information Centre for Science and Technology - PID Service (CC-BY)

...

Research Graph Foundation (Australia), National (PID) Graph (CC-BY)

The 'soft' bit: things to remember about PIDs

• Technical issues exist but persistent identifiers really a 'soft' issue because...

PIDs only persistent:

• while the PID registration service commits to resolving them, and;
• while the organization / publisher commits to updating the registration service (registry)

Commitments, commitments, commitments ...

Strathprints DOI journey...

Using Strathprints as the case study (based on EPrints)

Strathprints connected to Current Research Information System (CRIS) - Pure

• Repository and CRIS interoperability issues... to be overcome
  But much of what will be stated applies beyond EPrints and Pure....

What do you need to begin minting?

• DataCite membership (subscription)
• Single subscription but can be used for different DOI prefixes and/or different services
• e.g. Strathprints (research publications & other animals - grey lit, overlay journals), STAX (theses), KnowledgeBase (research data), etc.
• Piggyback off research data account...?

Strathprints DOI journey...

DataCite member since circa 2015
Membership used for:

• 2015: Research data (KnowledgeBase)
• 2017: Open grey scholarly literature (Strathprints) - manual DOI minting
• 2018: Research publications (Strathprints) - semi-automated DOI minting
• 2021: Research publications (Strathprints) - fully automated DOI minting
• 2022: Research theses (STAX) - fully automated DOI minting

Example

'Eigenvalue decomposition of a parahermitian matrix : extraction of analytic Eigenvectors'

• Example: https://doi.org/10.17868/strath.00085235
• And to the big registry in the sky....

DataCiteDoi integration with EPrints

Using 3.4+: https://github.com/eprintsug/DataCiteDoiUsing
Using 3.3+: https://bazaar.eprints.org/1100/

DataCiteDoi Configuration

Relatively simple configuration, with basic functioning out-of-the-box

• Define which content types to receive DOIs
• Define which database field to use for local DOIs
• Define the appearance of your DOIs (looks are everything! )
• Define some essential metadata elements, inc. how content types from EPrints schema map to DataCite schema

From configuration to customization...

• Customization required if using a CRIS with EPrints (our experience)

Example... walk the walk

'PIDs and repositories: experiences & practical issues of implementing DOIs for content : perspectives from Strathclyde (Strathprints)'

Deposited here:

Let's mint now!

Things to ponder...when to mint?

Auto minting?

• ZORA - Zurich Open Repository Archive (University of Zurich)
• Example: https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-224344
  

...pondering continued

or rules-based minting?

• EPrints DataCite integration enables automatic but conditional DOI minting
• i.e. specific content types

...pondering extended

or discretionary minting?

• Manually initiated by repository team
• e.g. for RRS/UKRI compliance, overlay journal publication, grey literature, etc.

AAMs, versioning, & other animals

Versioning: Agustina and Alexia to say more

• Support for DOI versioning in EPrints (?) - what's a minor or major change?
• Ensuring richest data sent to DataCite registry upon minting
• Preference for waiting for essential metadata to ensure relational linking

Ouch! Some pain points...

'Variable quality' (ahem!) project data causes DOI registration issues

• Local project data capture too removed from thinking globally
• Zero support for URIs in Pure (e.g. funders, grants)

Project data now suppressed in DataCite XML sent to DataCite by Strathprints

• Manual intervention needed -- either at Fabrica (DataCite) or directly on Strathprints prior to initiating minting
• ....issue obviated if we were using EPrints in isolation...

Ouch! More suffering...

Integrations with CRIS software:

• Specific technical issues to be overcome in with EPrints/Pure (learn more)
• Need to 'write protect' database fields in EPrints

Other PIDs and enriching the PID graph

• Imposing relational links challenging when Strathprints a slave system to Pure
• See above RE project data
• Manual intervention at Strathprints side but need to avoid double-keying (and over writing)

Minting, but not as we know it, Jim...

Important to remember

• There are always options available to comply with UKRI / Plan S, even with DOIs.

DataCite, for example:

• Register and mint your DOIs manually, using DataCite Fabrica UI
• Export DataCite compliant XML from your repo, and upload to registry using DataCite Fabrica UI

Think out of the box! Use a parallel solution!

• Grab a PID from an open system that supports them, e.g. Zenodo
  Or, consider CORE OAI ID, potential distributed alternative

Useful links

Some useful links you may have missed in the presentation:

• DataCite
• DataCite Fabrica
• Jisc Persistent Identifiers
• CORE OAI ID Resolver

DataCiteDoi integration (EPrints)

• For 3.4+
• For 3.3+

Questions.....?!

If you think of questions later... contact me here: https://purl.org/g3om4c