What is a DOI?

DOI stands for digital object identifier and is a unique number assigned to electronic journal articles and other electronic documents. The new APA citation rules call for this number to be used whenever it’s available instead of the URL. It is generally available for newer academic journal articles and may be found:

  • at the top of the journal article itself.
  • on the results list of a database search (like EBSCO)
  • in the full record for an article in a database (like OSearch)
  • on the OLinks (or Find It) screen.

Here’s an example of an APA citation for an electronic journal with a DOI:
