Examples
Worked examples
- Is an instance
ORCID syntax: ^\d{4}-\d{4}-\d{4}-\d{3}[\dX]$.
- Is an instance
DOI syntax: ^10\.\d{4,9}/[-._;()/:A-Za-z0-9]+$.
Counter-examples
Looks similar, but isn't
- Not an instance
A field label such as 'Authors' is not identifier syntax.
- Not an instance
A natural-language description of a paper is not identifier syntax.
Editorial commentary
Identifier syntax is the surface-level part of an identifier scheme. ORCID iDs have a fixed 16-digit pattern with a final ISO-7064 check character. DOIs have a prefix ’10.NNNN’ and a case-insensitive suffix of any Unicode characters. ARKs have ark:/NAAN/Name[Qualifier]. UUIDs have 8-4-4-4-12 hex grouping. Conforming to identifier syntax is a precondition for resolution. Validation libraries on the client side typically check syntax before submission to avoid round-tripping invalid identifiers.
References
- P
- a
- s
- k
- i
- n
- N
- .
- ,
- ‘
- D
- i
- g
- i
- t
- a
- l
- O
- b
- j
- e
- c
- t
- I
- d
- e
- n
- t
- i
- f
- i
- e
- r
- (
- D
- O
- I
- )
- S
- y
- s
- t
- e
- m
- ‘
- i
- n
- E
- n
- c
- y
- c
- l
- o
- p
- e
- d
- i
- a
- o
- f
- L
- i
- b
- r
- a
- r
- y
- a
- n
- d
- I
- n
- f
- o
- r
- m
- a
- t
- i
- o
- n
- S
- c
- i
- e
- n
- c
- e
- s
- ,
- 2
- 0
- 1
- 0
- .
Also known as
Identifier format
Machine-readable encodings
Use in your systems
<role vocab="credit"
vocab-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/"
vocab-term="Identifier syntax"
vocab-term-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/identifier-syntax" />{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "DefinedTerm",
"name": "Identifier syntax",
"identifier": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/identifier-syntax",
"description": "The formal grammar that constrains the textual form of identifiers in a given scheme — what character sets, lengths, prefixes, separators, and check digits are allowed — typically expressed as a regular expression or BNF grammar in the scheme's specification.",
"inDefinedTermSet": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/domain/the-persistent-identifier-ecosystem/",
"url": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/identifier-syntax",
"sameAs": [
"Identifier format"
],
"license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"
}
