Registering IGSN IDs

Purpose of IGSN ID registration

An IGSN ID is a globally unique and persistent identifier for physical samples. An IGSN ID can be applied to an individual sample, an aggregation of samples, or to a feature-of-interest (the real-world feature that the sample is taken from). IGSN IDs are functionally DOIs and are registered with metadata encoded in the DataCite Metadata Schema.

This guide will help you get started with IGSN ID registration using DataCite systems and APIs, and the DataCite Metadata Schema.

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Please note that in DataCite documentation regarding IGSN IDs, the terms “physical sample” and “material sample” have the same meaning and are used interchangeably.