PID services (DOI, ePIC)

A persistent identifier (PID) is a unique and permanent digital reference that makes it possible to find and reuse digital material. PIDs are used to reference digital objects such as documents, web pages, and files.

Every dataset that is deposited with and published through SND receives a specific type of persistent identifier called a Digital Object Identifier (DOI). This helps ensure correct citation of the research and to show which version of the data has been used. To publish material based on these datasets in a journal, it is often a requirement that the research data are accessible and equipped with a PID.

Read the SND Policy for Persistent Identifiers (PID) on Research Data (on Zenodo).

Read more about where data become visible and discoverable when you publish them through SND.

SND’s membership in DataCite

As a member of DataCite, SND can provide a unique DOI prefix to Swedish authorities and organizations in the SND network who have a defined need for their own prefix.

As the process of assigning a DOI requires a certain amount of metadata for every object, it may, depending on the data type, be more appropriate to use another type of PID. Other common types of PIDs are available through ePIC (handle), KB (urn:nbn), and ARK Alliance (ARK).

Read more about SND’s membership in DataCite.

Applying for a DOI prefix from SND

Public agencies and other research organizations may have specific needs for assigning a DOI, other than those already offered through publication in the Researchdata.se catalogue via SND.

If your organization is interested in applying for a DOI prefix, please contact us at pid@snd.se for more information and instructions.

The regulatory framework for receiving a DOI is specified in DataCite’s Business Models Principles (Chapter 4). See also SND’s guidelines for DataCite accounts on Zenodo (currently in Swedish only).

Applying for an ePIC prefix from SND

For research data in the earlier stages of the scientific process, where it is still uncertain which data will be cited in the future, the ePIC persistent identifier can be used, as there is no need for a permanent description to create an ePIC PID. SND is part of the consortium behind the infrastructure for ePIC.

If your organization is interested in applying for an ePIC prefix, please contact us at pid@snd.se for more information and instructions.