How to Find DOI of an Article for Your Paper’s Citations

A DOI (Digital Object Identifier) is a little code that's stitched onto a publication forever and it helps readers locate electronic materials. Once you find DOI of an article, anyone can jump straight to the source without wandering through search engines.

But even though they work, they don't have that easy traceability that professors and reviewers like. Sometimes, articles' DOIs are hidden in plain sight, and sometimes they're nowhere obvious. You might scroll through the PDF or bounce between databases before you finally stumble across it.

This guide walks through practical ways to find the DOI without wasting half a day. And if citation work ever eats too much of your energy, EssayHub's essay writing service can handle your sources while you focus on the more important parts.

How to Find DOI of an Article in 5 Steps

Sometimes the DOI of an article is right there in front of you, other times it takes a bit of detective work. Here are the main routes you can take:

Start with the Article Itself

The most obvious place is also the one people overlook. Open the electronic article on the publisher's website and scan the first page carefully. Publishers often drop the DOI near the copyright line, in the same cluster as citation details. In PDFs, it may sit at the top or bottom like a watermark.

It looks something like this: DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2649-2. That odd-looking string is the golden ticket. If you catch it here, you're done. No need for extra searching, no need to dive into databases.

Search Academic Databases for the Article's DOI

When the article itself doesn't give it up, shift your attention to academic databases. All the big players like Google Scholar, PubMed, JSTOR are likely to have DOIs in the citation information they provide.

Type the title into the search bar, maybe add the author if you're tired of wading through near-matches. The database will give you a neat little entry, and somewhere inside the citation details, the DOI is typically displayed prominently. Sometimes it shows up immediately, sometimes it hides behind a "Cite" button. Either way, it's faster than squinting at every corner of a PDF like you're on a scavenger hunt.

Use an Official Website to Find the DOI of an Article

Another direct approach is using an official DOI registration agency. Crossref.org is the most widely used, but there are others. These services exist for one reason: to make DOI records findable.

On Crossref, you can search by:

• Article title
• Author name
• Journal name

The database then matches your query and delivers the identifier if it's registered in the DOI system.

Try Free DOI Lookup Tools

There are free tools floating around that do the job. OpenAlex is one example, but there are plenty of others. These tools scrape multiple sources and spit out a DOI if it exists. Think of them as backup systems when the usual routes feel like dead ends.

Reach Out to the Publisher or Author

At some point, you might hit the limit of what online DOI searching or a publishers website can offer. That's when you take the simplest step: ask directly. Publishers and authors are usually quick to provide a DOI if you send a short, polite note.

Here's a template you could use:

Subject: Request for DOI of Your Article

Dear [Author's Name],

I am citing your research article, "[Article Title]," published in [Journal Name], and I could not locate the DOI through databases. Could you kindly share the DOI with me?

Thank you,

[Your Name]

Citing Works Without a Digital Object Identifier

Not all electronic materials come with a DOI. That's especially true for anything published before the early 2000s, when the identifier was still a fairly recent concept. You might be flipping through the articles published prior and realize there's no neat code at the bottom or a string of letters and numbers hiding in the corner.

In those cases, you simply work with what you've got. Books have ISBNs that act like their fingerprint. Journal articles lean on the classics: volume, issue, page numbers, publication year. It may feel old-fashioned compared to the convenience of a DOI, but it's enough to guide readers straight to the source. As long as you properly lay the trail, someone else will always be able to permanently identify your sources. 

And if all else fails, you can always turn to EssayHub’s citation generator. 

Sum Up

Tracking down a DOI might sound like a tiny detail, but it's the kind that can change the entire bibliographic information. Sometimes it's right there on the page, other times it takes browsing through databases for the article title, or even a quick email to the author.

Of course, keeping the article contents and the citations straight while juggling a dozen assignments isn't exactly light work. That's where EssayHub's college essay writing service can step in. When you're knee-deep in sources and deadlines are pressing in, the right kind of academic support can help you take a breath.