Permanent identifiers

A persistent identifier (PID) is a fixed reference to a specific resource, such as a scientific publication, dataset, software or physical object. The PID ensures that the resource retains its unique identification wherever it is stored or moved in the digital environment.

Highlights Advantages

• Locality: PID facilitates the discovery and identification of digital resources, especially in large databases or online repositories

• Accessibility: PID ensures that digital content remains accessible over time, even if it is moved or deleted from its original location

• Credible citation: PID provides a robust way to cite digital resources in research articles and other scholarly works

• Interoperability: PIDs help different systems and databases to exchange and share information about digital resources

Most popular PID types in research

• DOI (Digital Object Identifier): Most commonly used for scientific publications and datasets

• ORCID (Open Researcher and Contributor ID): Unique identifier for researchers and contributors

• Handle: Widely used in PID academic and government data

• ARC (Archival Resource Key): used for archives and museum digital resources

• ISBN (International Standard Book Number): A unique identifier for books and other monographic publications that allows them to be uniquely identified in the systems of publishers, libraries and bookshops