Retrieving a random sample of DOIs

Being able to select random results is useful for both testing and sampling. You can use the random parameter to retrieve a set of random results with page[size] to set the sample size.

For example, the following would select 10 random works from among all DataCite records:

curl "https://api.datacite.org/dois?random=true&page[size]=10"

The random parameter can be combined with any query.

curl "https://api.datacite.org/dois?disable-facets=true&query=climate%20change&random=true&page[size]=10"

When you use the random parameter:

• The page[size] parameter can be any number between 1 and 1000. A page[size] < 100 is recommended for performance.
• The page[number] and sort parameters are ignored.
• The facets in the meta section are not limited to the random sample. If you are not using the facets, including disable-facets=true is recommended for performance.

Sample Group

Samples can be grouped:

curl "https://api.datacite.org/dois?sample=10&sample-group=client&page[size]=20"

This query will retrieve 10 samples per client, for 20 clients. Allowed parameters for sample-group are client, provider and resource-type.