How do I search for a DOI in DataCite Commons?

DataCite Commons describes works, people, organizations, and repositories, as well as their connections. There are a few ways to search for a specific DOI. Start in the “Works” tab. The search interface in DataCite Commons is based on OpenSearch query string queries.

If you know the DOI name, you can search with the identifier; for example, 10.7936/5bc9-0k33:

https://commons.datacite.org/doi.org?query=10.7936%2F5bc9-0k33

Why is my DOI not found when I search in DataCite Commons?

DataCite's services use the OpenSearch index. The kind of queries used in OpenSearch (query_string_query) have the following reserved characters (which means they need to be treated differently in your query)

OpenSearch reserved characters:

+ - = && || > < ! ( ) { } [ ] ^ " ~ * ? : \ / .

If any these characters is part of your query, you should escape with a leading backslash.

Example 1: escape with a leading backslash

10.2314/kxp\:1738669661

Run the query in DataCite Commons.

However, don’t escape if the reserved character is an operator, e.g. the example below the colon is used to indicate a particular field.

Example 2: don’t escape if the reserved character is an operator

doi:10.2314/KXP\:1738669661

Run this query in DataCite Commons.

Finally, remember that different search indexes will have different reserved characters.