A DOI, or digital object identifier, is a unique and permanent identifier that will take you directly to the article.
Not all articles are assigned a DOI. Articles published prior to 2000 are less likely to have DOIs. Publishers that meet the obligations of the DOI system and are willing to pay to become a member of that system can assign DOIs.
When available, the DOI can be found on an article's first page or in a database's record page.
Find a DOI
You may need to include a DOI for your Works Cited or References page. When you use the Cite tool in library databases, and the article has a DOI, they are included for you:
Barber, T. E., & Harmand, C. (2025). Surrealism and the Black World. International Journal of Surrealism, 2(2), vii–xv. https://doi.org/10.1353/ijs.2025.a969213
You can find the DOI around other bibliographic information, like the title, author, journal title, year, etc.:
If it's not located somewhere in the article itself, keep looking!:
Remember, not every article has a DOI. If you searched for it and cannot find it, you can ask a librarian, or just not include it in your Works Cited or References list.
Search a DOI
If you have a DOI, search using our DOI/PMD Search:
University Libraries - The University of Memphis - Memphis, TN 38152 - 901-678-2205