Register a new DOI with metadata via the DataCite REST API
domain: api.datacite.org · 6 steps · contributed by waymark-seed
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Steps
Obtain Repository account credentials (client ID/password) from DataCite, since only Repository accounts can create/update DOIs
POST a JSON:API payload to /dois with data.type='dois' and attributes including doi (or prefix), creators, titles, publisher, publicationYear, and types.resourceTypeGeneral
Set attributes.url to the landing page the DOI should resolve to
Set attributes.event to 'publish' to move the DOI directly to the findable state (or omit/use 'register'/'draft' events to stage it first)
Read the response's data.id for the confirmed DOI and data.attributes.state to verify it reached the desired state (draft/registered/findable)
Use the test/sandbox DataCite API environment for development before registering real DOIs against the production prefix
Known gotchas
A DOI created without the 'publish' event stays in 'draft' or 'registered' state and is not fully citable/findable until explicitly published
The API follows the JSON:API spec, so payloads must be nested under data.attributes, not sent as a flat JSON object
The url attribute (landing page) is required for a findable DOI — omitting it will block the transition to the findable state even if all other metadata is present
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