Policy on DOI Name Administration

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Policy on DOI Name Administration

The second aim of DOI data model policy is to ensure minimum standards of quality of administration of DOI names by Registration Agencies (RA), and facilitate the administration of the DOI System as a whole. This aim may also be seen as supporting the first aim of interoperability, but it specifically addresses the need to ensure that a prospective RA is competent to issue DOI names responsibly and that ambiguous DOI names do not enter the network.

The policy provides a simple test of an RA's competence: the ability to make a DOI Kernel Declaration, which requires that the RA has an internal system which can support the unambiguous allocation of a DOI name, and is fundamentally sound enough to support interoperability within the network. In addition, the policy requires that RAs maintain a record of the date of allocation of a DOI name, and the identity of the registrant on whose behalf the DOI name was allocated.

The DOI data model policy also exists to support the future development of mechanisms for facilitating the administration of the DOI System as a whole. This might be done, for example, through the use of terms registered in the DOI Kernel Schema as types, to classify DOI names, or services.