Hello! I have on my (virtual) desk a document for which my institution would normally create a DOI. The author’s pipped us to the post, however, and has already created a DOI for the item on ResearchGate - but then they’ve removed the content from RG, so the DOI resolves to nothing (although you can still get to it via what I think is a cached version in a Google search). Am I able to create another DOI for this item, or does the RG one still stand, even though the content has been removed from the URL it points to? Thanks for any help you can give - it’s much appreciated.
Hi @rgoodland, it’s a good question.
ResearchGate DOIs fall into this strange category of DOIs that are a weird exception to the general expectations we have for how DOIs are treated. Other DOIs in this category include Zenodo DOIs, Figshare DOIs, and Cyberleninka DOIs.
In short: generally our expectation is that only one DOI should ever exist for a given object. DOIs are intended to be unique and persistent. Crossref members may transfer ownership of journals(/other materials) and specific DOIs from their ownership/stewardship to the ownership/stewardship of other members.
ResearchGate is not a Crossref member but a member of our fellow registration agency (RA), DataCite. It’s possible, though more complicated, to transfer DOIs from one RA to another. In cases where it isn’t possible to transfer the DOI, a new DOI may be registered via the new RA (say, Crossref in this case) and aliased to the old one with the other RA (DataCite). This means that the DataCite DOI no longer needs to be maintained and instead will always resolve to wherever the Crossref DOI directs readers.
Now we come to ResearchGate DOIs (and their ilk). RsearchGate DOIs cannot be transferred or aliased, which is slightly awkward. While it doesn’t feel like a satisfying solution, the least worst option is that you can register a new Crossref DOI on your prefix and remove any mentions of the old ResearchGate DOI from the article PDF or anywhere else. No further DOIs should then be registered for this object.
Let me know if you have any other questions about this odd case. Thank you for asking about it!