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DOI Transition FAQs

General 

What is DataCite Fabrica and DataCite API and why are we transitioning to this service?

Recently DataCite launched a new web interface called Fabrica. DataCite DOI Fabrica serves as a one-stop service for:

  • DataCite Members to manage their account and repository information

  • Repositories to manage DOI registration 

DataCite Fabrica and DataCite APIs offer the same functionality as the ARDC DOI client service built ten years prior to Fabrica. With Fabrica in place, there is a central solution for minting DOIs available to all. Under the circumstances, it is no longer necessary or efficient to provide an alternative method more minting DataCite DOIs.. 

New clients will use DataCite’s Fabrica and/or DataCite API(s) from the start of their sign up to the service.

With the transition to DataCite Fabrica and/or DataCite API(s), does that mean we will become direct members of DataCite?

No. ARDC’s DOI clients will not become direct DataCite members as a result of the transition. However, any organisation who wishes to become a direct DataCite member should discuss this option with ARDC. 

What will be ARDC’s role in the management of DOIs?

The transition to DataCite Fabrica or to DataCite API does not mean we will stop providing a DOI service to the sector. We will continue to: 

  • support 61 repositories (plus new and future repositories) in the Australian network that are registering DOIs through our service; 

  • provide guidance and best practice to the sector in DOI minting and this will continue into the future; 

  • display DOIs in our Research Data Australia service and connect them to other research entities; 

  • serve on the DataCite Board of Directors and the DataCite Community Engagements Steering Group and we continue to work closely with DataCite on initiatives that maximise the use of DOIs to identify, cite and track research data, software, etc..


Transition Planning

How does the transition to DataCite Fabrica and/or DataCite API(s) directly affect us?

When we transition, the following changes occur:

  • DOI client organisations currently using the ARDC online form system for manual minting will be given new login credentials for the Fabrica online form system and become accustomed to the new interface. Support and support materials are available.

  • DOI client organisations using the ARDC API will need to update their software and credentials  to match the configuration of the new DataCite REST API or other DataCite API(s). Support and support materials are available.

With this change, all new and existing DOI clients will become member organisations within the consortium. The diagram below demonstrates the changes that will be implemented. 

Will the DOI service remain free of charge/cost free when we transition to DataCite?

Yes. The DOI Service will remain free of charge to our existing and new DOI clients.  The technical changes to the DOI service do not affect the current ARDC funding structure. ARDC, however, will communicate any modifications to our current approach to the sector well in advance of any changes.

What is the timeframe or deadline to transition to the DataCite service?

Migration will commence in May 2020, at which time, the ARDC infrastructure will be ready to support the transition of both our manual and machine to machine minting clients.

Once everyone has migrated, we will turn the ARDC DOI services off since Fabrica replicates what we currently offer and DataCite strategy is to have more direct contact with users of their service rather than users go through third parties services such as ours. 

With DataCite Fabrica online and operational, the  timelines for transition are:

  • ARDC Manual DOI Minting Interface will be decommissioned by 30Sep2020

  • ARDC DOI API will be decommissioned by 31Dec2020

We understand that each organisation has its own processes and procedures to consider, therefore, you will schedule your transition at your preferred time within the defined timeline. ARDC will work with you on this. 

What will happen if we did not meet the transition deadline?

ARDC will closely work with you during your journey to Fabrica transition. We will aim to complete your transition by the set deadline and provide you support as needed. 

However, if you believe you don’t have the resources available to transition, you have to let us know as soon as possible so that we can work on an implementation strategy that works for both ARDC and your organisation. 

Once we transition to DataCite Fabrica and/or DataCite API, can we still use the ARDC DOI Service for minting DOIs?

Once you transition to the new Fabrica system:

  • your organisation’s DOI users will no longer be able to access My DOIs from the RDA Registry

  • if you mint manually, you will need to login to DataCite Fabrica in order to manually mint or update DOIs

  • you will need to login to DataCite Fabrica in order to access your repository’s registration information and create and manage DOIs.

  • you will no longer be able to use the ARDC DOI API or ARDC DataCite API  for machine-to-machine minting. All DOI minting and updates will have to be through the DataCite Fabrica API or other DataCite API. This guide will help you with the transition.

Our repository connects through the ARDC DataCite API. How are we going to migrate to the DataCite API?

If your repository software (i.e. Dataverse, Pure, Esploro, etc.) has built-in DataCite integration and  is currently configured to mint DOIs through the ARDC DataCite Client API, you will need to update your software’s DOI settings/configuration with:

  •  the new DataCite API URL (endpoint)

  • It is important to understand which DataCite API your repository software supports.  You may need to get in touch with your vendor  or technical support for assistance or get in touch with services@ardc.edu.au so we can assist you.  

  • new username. 

  • your username will be your new DataCite Fabrica repository ID (Note: If you are a developer and do not have this information, please get in touch with your organisation’s DOI contact or email services@ardc.edu.au)

  • your password will be the same (your ARDC-provided shared secret key). 


More information about M2M migration is available here. 

After the transition

If I am having issues or have questions after the transition, who should I contact to report this incident?

ARDC will remain as the consortium members' primary contact for the DOI service. All issues, feedback and enquiries shall be sent to services@ardc.edu.au and will be logged, tracked and managed through the ARDC Service Desk management system.

ARDC shall be responsible for conducting initial investigation and analysis. DataCite will be consulted by ARDC for any issues that need resolution beyond ARDC's control.

You will receive update notifications directly from ARDC and there is no need to contact DataCite directly.


How can we receive up-to-date information or notifications about DataCite system changes, issues or announcements?



As the consortium lead, ARDC will be sending our consortium organisation contacts any outage notifications, Fabrica change or release notes, and issues/incidents as we become aware of them and/or as we confirm there is impact to our consortium members. 

Any DOI contact within the organisation can, however, subscribe (via email, webhook, twitter or RSS) to the DataCite status page for any updates on the status of datacite.org and all its related services.  Outage notifications will be posted on this status page. If you have further questions or clarifications, you can email services@ardc.edu.au.

We have received our DOI Fabrica repository account and password, does this mean the account is shared among all the users within our organisation? Can we request for individual accounts?

At this stage, your repository accountID and password is shared among all the users within the organisation’s repository members therefore, we strongly recommend that  you only distribute the credentials to anyone who has valid business requirements for access.

DataCite is currently planning to move towards individual authentication in Fabrica. Once individual authentication is rolled out, every valid user will have their own login account and logging in through the repository account ID will no longer be available.  DataCite and ARDC will announce when this functionality becomes available.

We mint DOIs manually, how will we now mint new DOIs through DataCite Fabrica?



When you transition, you are expected to mint, update and manage your DOIs using the DataCite Fabrica system:

  1. Your organisation’s DOI contact  will receive your new Fabrica credentials from ARDC. If you did not receive your credentials, please email services@ardc.edu.au.  Your test (https://doi.test.datacite.org/) and production (https://doi.datacite.org/) Fabrica accounts are the same. Keep in mind that DataCite’ test system is completely separate from production.

  2. It is recommended that you test your access and familiarise yourself with the new Fabrica interface in Test Fabrica. The links below will guide you in how to use DataCite Fabrica:

Can we change our organisation name and or our repository name in Fabrica?

The way the DataCite Fabrica system currently works is that there is no way to edit or update the organisation name or repository ID once it’s created. If there is a valid business need to change the organisation member ID and/or repository ID, the only way to do this is by creating  a new repository under a new  consortium organisation. DataCite would then transfer the DOIs and prefix from the old repository to the newly created account. 

You, however, can change your repository name when you are logged in to Fabrica.

We used to receive a quarterly DOI broken link report from ARDC. Are we getting something similar from DataCite?

DataCite has a link checker service that periodically checks a random sampling of DOIs to verify that they still resolve to a valid URL and to gather other useful information about the metadata for DOIs registered with DataCite.

The link checker service runs automatically in the background, so there is nothing Members need to do and nothing they need to enable in order to benefit from the service.

The results of the link checker are displayed in DOI Fabrica at the bottom of each DOI record that has been checked.

Below is an example of a link checker result for one of the DOIs minted by ARDC:

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