Persistent identification is the process of assigning a permanent, digital identifier consisting of numbers and/or alphanumerical characters to a data set (or any other digital object).

Frequently used identification systems include DOI (Digital Object Identifier) and URN (Uniform Resource Name). As opposed to other serial identifiers (such as URL addresses), a persistent identifier refers to the object itself rather than to its location on the internet. Even if the location of a persistently identified object changes, the identifier remains the same. All that needs to be changed is the URL location in the identification database. This process ensures that data sets are permanently findable, retrievable, and citable.

Freie Universität’s DOI Service can provide you with persistent identifiers.