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Understanding CrossRef
What is CrossRef?
CrossRef is — in the simplest terms — a collaborative linking
process. And here's how the process works:
Each member publisher creates a
digital object identifer (DOI),
a unique identifier for each journal article. The DOI, which
operates as an article's
"digital fingerprint," is
intimately linked to the article's metadata (in simple terms,
its bibliographic citation) and a URL (as Scitation users, you may
have noticed DOI "values" for any abstract you viewed; they
appear right below the
abstract itself). A DOI looks something like:
- 10.1063/1.1406560
To resolve a DOI, the DOI link is sent to the Handle System
resolver operated on behalf of the International DOI Foundation.
That resolver (actually, multiple servers located throughout the world)
redirects the DOI to its associated URL (Scitation users will see the resolver URL
— http://dx.doi.org — at the beginning of each DOI-based link).
In mid-October 2001, when CrossRef linking capability was
realized on Scitation, over 80 publishers were part of the CrossRef
consortium. Nearly 5,300 journals were represented, with over
3.5 million deposited records available for linking. Estimates
indicate that the CrossRef database of linkable articles will grow by 500,000 to 1,000,000 new
records annually.
What Does This Mean for Scitation Users?
The most obvious benefit of CrossRef, and the most noticeable, is a
harvest of thousands of new reference links to content served
by dozens of physical-science
publishers that were not previously available.
Publishers and/or publications
linked to from Scitation reference sections via DOIs include:
How Do I Use CrossRef?
The CrossRef process is transparent to the end-user. Veteran Scitation
users will simply see
a far greater number of linked citations, and unless you "mouse over"
the URL, you will generally not even realize that your mouse-click is
being routed through the CrossRef resolver to the article you wish
to read. The diagram below encapsulates the CrossRef experience
from a user's point of view:
Want to Know More About CrossRef?
CrossRef's web site is a useful starting point for more information about DOI-based linking. For
more information on DOIs, visit the International DOI Foundation.
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