This guide provides practical information about Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) and offers guidance on structuring, registering and assigning DOIs. It is intended for Diamond open access journals that already assign DOIs, as well as those planning to begin doing so.

The guide includes recommendations for DOI structuring, metadata registration, DOI display and maintenance, and examples of workflows for assigning DOIs in different publishing contexts. It also addresses common challenges such as inactive DOI links and incomplete or poor-quality metadata.

The guide was developed by Iryna Kuchma & Milica Ševkušić of the EIFL Open Access Programme as part of the Collaboration for Sustainable Open Access Publishing in Africa project, funded by the Wellcome Trust [grant number 228148/Z/23/Z]. 

Thanks to Trudie Erasmus, African Journals Online (AJOL), Ina Smith, Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf) and Femi Qudus Arogundade, West and Central African Research and Education Network (WACREN), for their contributions.

Cite this guide as: 

Kuchma, I., & Ševkušić, M. (2026). Tips for Assigning DOIs to Journal Articles: A Guide. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20815391