Guidance for clients transitioning from ARDC APIs to DataCite APIs
Clients transitioning from the ARDC DOI M2M Service
ARDC DOI Endpoint: https://researchdata.edu.au/api/doi/mint
As part of the transition to DataCite services, you will need to determine which of the DataCite APIs best suit your requirements and technical capabilities. No matter which API you select to implement, code changes are more than likely required. This is due to the DataCite APIs having different request messages, responses and error codes to the ARDC APIs.
Below is a brief overview of the main APIs that DataCite provides to create and manage DOIs. Please refer to the linked DataCite documentation for more detail.
Once you have reviewed the available DataCite APIs, if you are still unsure on which API to use or how to implement it, please contact services@ardc.edu.au and we can assist you.
DataCite REST API (https://api.datacite.org/dois)
The DataCite REST API is under active development and underpins much of the functionality in the DataCite Fabrica application.
The API follows the JSONAPI specification and operates solely on a content type of JSON.
The API allows users to mint DOIs with a single request by passing the DOI metadata and URL encoded as a JSON object.
DOI suffixes can either be chosen by the client or auto generated.
API Guide: https://support.datacite.org/docs/api
Interactive API documentation: https://support.datacite.org/reference/introduction
Example implementations:
DataCite MDS API (https://mds.datacite.org)
The MDS API is being maintained but is no longer actively developed. DataCite have, however, indicated that they will support this API for the foreseeable future.
The API supports minting DOIs with DataCite metadata encoded as XML, which some clients may find easier to work with.
Besides not being actively developed, one of the drawbacks in using the MDS API, is that in order to mint a DOI, two requests must be made. One to register the metadata, and one to mint the DOI with the associated URL.
DOI suffixes can either be chosen by the client or auto generated.
API Guide: https://support.datacite.org/docs/mds-api-guide
Interactive API documentation: https://support.datacite.org/reference/overview
Examples implementations:
Clients transitioning from the ARDC DataCite Client API
Endpoint: https://researchdata.edu.au/api/doi/datacite
The transition to DataCite services for clients using the ARDC DataCite Client API with 3rd party repository software (e.g. Dataverse) will be straightforward. In most cases it will require configuring a different API URL and User Name. It is also likely that a new Test DOI prefix will need to be configured in your test systems.
Note that many applications are likely to only support the DataCite MDS API. If you are unsure which DataCite API URL to configure, please refer to the configuration manual or consult with technical support for your application. DataCite also provides some information for Software Repository integrations.
Upon indicating your intentions to transition to DataCite services, the ARDC will provide you with your new User Name and new Test prefix if required.