Editorial · CASRAI · The persistent identifier ecosystem
DOI Versioning: Concept DOIs, Version DOIs and Citing the Right Thing
Research outputs are no longer static. Datasets are corrected and extended, software is released in successive versions, and preprints are revised in response to feedback. This dynamism creates a persistent identifier problem: should a citation point to a specific, frozen version, or to the evolving work as a whole? The DataCite concept DOI and version DOI model, implemented most prominently by Zenodo, answers this by minting a concept DOI that always resolves to the latest version alongside distinct version DOIs for each release. This article examines the DataCite concept and version DOI model, Crossref’s handling of versioned content, how preprint servers manage versions, the isVersionOf and hasVersion relationship types in the DataCite Metadata Schema, software versioning through the Zenodo-GitHub integration, and why citing a specific version matters for reproducibility.
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RAiD: the Research Activity Identifier for projects, and where it sits in the PID graph
The persistent-identifier ecosystem names people, organisations and outputs, but for a long time the project itself, the research activity that ties them together, had no identifier. RAiD, the Research Activity Identifier, fills that gap. This article explains what RAiD identifies, its standardisation as ISO 23527:2022, the role of the Australian Research Data Commons (ARDC), and how a RAiD links data management plans, grants, people via ORCID, organisations via ROR and outputs via DOI.
Crossref and the DOI Registration Agencies
Crossref and DataCite are the two best-known DOI registration agencies, appointed under the DOI system to register identifiers and curate metadata. This explainer covers metadata deposit, reference linking, Cited-by, and how Crossref and DataCite specialise.
The PID graph: connecting ORCID, ROR, DOI and RAiD into a research knowledge graph
Persistent identifiers are most powerful not in isolation but in connection. The PID graph links ORCID, ROR, DOI and RAiD through open metadata so that people, organisations, outputs and projects form a navigable research knowledge graph — provided the connecting metadata stays open.
