What should I do if the resource that a DOI points to is retracted?

A DOI resolves to a landing page where the resource is made available, usually by a repository. DOIs are persistent identifiers and are intended to be a permanent means of identifying a resource. For this reason, the DOI name and metadata will continue to exist even after the underlying content has been removed. In the case a of retraction follow these steps:

  • Change the state of the DOI to "registered" state. This archives the DOI and means it is no longer indexed anywhere. Learn more about DOI states.

  • Update the URL of the erroneous DOI to a tombstone page. This can be your organization's own tombstone page or a generic one. Learn more about tombstone pages.