Examples
Worked examples
- Is an instance
A DataCite DOI for a dataset withdrawn after a quality issue, with the landing page now displaying the withdrawal notice and the metadata frozen.
- Is an instance
A Crossref-DOI article retracted by the publisher, with the landing page now prefixed 'RETRACTED:' and linking to the retraction notice DOI.
Counter-examples
Looks similar, but isn't
- Not an instance
A broken 404 at the DOI's resolved URL is not a tombstone.
- Not an instance
Removing the DOI from doi.org's resolution table would not be tombstoning — it would be deletion, which is strongly discouraged.
Editorial commentary
DOI tombstoning is the recommended pattern when a publisher or repository must remove the underlying content but cannot ethically delete the citation history. DataCite supports an explicit ‘withdrawn’ state; Crossref relies on publisher tombstone landing pages plus the ‘is-retracted-by’ relationship in metadata. The DOI itself stays resolvable: a citation that was correct at the time of publication remains a resolvable reference, with the tombstone explaining the change of state.
References
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Machine-readable encodings
Use in your systems
<role vocab="credit"
vocab-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/"
vocab-term="DOI tombstone"
vocab-term-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/doi-tombstone" />{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "DefinedTerm",
"name": "DOI tombstone",
"identifier": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/doi-tombstone",
"description": "A tombstone page served at the resolved URL of a DOI after the underlying resource has been withdrawn, providing withdrawal information and metadata while ensuring the DOI itself continues to resolve.",
"inDefinedTermSet": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/domain/the-persistent-identifier-ecosystem/",
"url": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/doi-tombstone",
"sameAs": [],
"license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
}
