v2026.1CASRAI Dictionary 1,610 entries across 24 domains · CC-BY 4.01,610 entries · CC-BY 4.0

Dictionary termTrack BStablev2026.2

PID resolution

The process by which a persistent identifier is looked up through its scheme's resolution infrastructure and returned either as an HTTP redirect to the current resource location or as metadata about the resource, depending on the request and the scheme's policy.

ByCASRAI Editorial Board

· Last updated 10 Jul 2026

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Examples

Worked examples

Is an instance
https://doi.org/10.1038/nature14539 resolving with a 302 to nature.com.
Is an instance
Content negotiation on the same DOI returning Crossref JSON metadata when Accept: application/vnd.citationstyles.csl+json is sent.

Counter-examples

Looks similar, but isn't

Not an instance
A 404 result when calling https://doi.org/10.xxxx/dead is a failure of resolution, not the resolution mechanism itself.
Not an instance
Searching for a paper in a search engine is not PID resolution.

Editorial commentary

Resolution typically uses HTTP: a client makes an HTTPS request to the resolver (e.g. https://doi.org/10.xxxx/yyyy), and the resolver responds with a 302 redirect to the current landing page or, under content negotiation (Accept: application/json), with structured metadata. The Handle System uses HTTP for proxy resolution but also supports a native HDL protocol for high-throughput cases. ARKs add the inflection convention as a metadata-resolution mechanism. The resolution layer is the operational manifestation of a PID’s persistence — broken resolution is a broken PID.

References

Sun S., Lannom L., Boesch B., RFC 3650-3652 (Handle System), IETF, 2003.

Also known as

Identifier resolution

Machine-readable encodings

Use in your systems

JATS XML <role> element

xml

<role vocab="credit"
      vocab-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/"
      vocab-term="PID resolution"
      vocab-term-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/pid-resolution" />

Schema.org DefinedTerm (JSON-LD)

json

{
  "@context": "https://schema.org",
  "@type": "DefinedTerm",
  "@id": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/pid-resolution",
  "name": "PID resolution",
  "identifier": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/pid-resolution",
  "description": "The process by which a persistent identifier is looked up through its scheme's resolution infrastructure and returned either as an HTTP redirect to the current resource location or as metadata about the resource, depending on the request and the scheme's policy.",
  "inDefinedTermSet": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/domain/persistent-identifiers#set",
  "url": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/pid-resolution",
  "sameAs": [
    "Identifier resolution"
  ],
  "license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "publisher": {
    "@id": "https://casrai.org/#organization"
  },
  "dateModified": "2026-07-10T02:06:20",
  "inLanguage": "en"
}

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