oaDOI: New Search Engine for Open Access Research - Enago Academy

"A Digital Object Identifier (DOI) is a string of letters and numbers that was initially introduced in the year 2000 and is assigned to specific information to enable various search engines to find an article or report online. DOIs are assigned by a publisher and governed by the International DOI Foundation to ensure electronic availability of a published piece. They have a specific format beginning with “10” and identify specific organizations and publishers by unique codes according to their protocols. It is highly recommended that DOIs be included in both the printed and electronic copies of your research article.

Unfortunately, many websites that publish research work provide only the abstract and you must pay to access the full article. This can be frustrating not only for researchers who are searching for data and other information on specific subjects in their field but also to the general public who might be searching for specific scientific information or are just interested in learning more about the recent happenings in the world of science. The solution to this problem is called the 'open access DOI' (oaDOI).

Getting Around the Paywall

oaDOI works like a DOI except that it provides access to an entire article when it’s available. For example, the following two links provide access to the same article; however, the first contains a paywall, while the second is free.

• org/10.1038/nature12373
• org/10.1038/nature12373

 The oaDOI system is the brainchild of Heather Piwowar and Jason Priem, co-founders of Impactstory, and is funded by the Alfred P. Sloan foundation. The staff looks for open access copies of articles in print through search databases such as the Directory of Open Access Journals and BASE OA. They also search repository pages and journal articles to determine whether a free PDF exists."