The Entertainment ID Registry (EIDR) is in the business of unique identifiers and content authenticity.
So, when the DOI Foundation https://www.doi.org , the nonprofit organization managing the Digital Object Identifier (DOI) standards system, sounded the alarm about a surprising series of object ID registration scams, Hollie Choi, managing director of EIDR, took note.
Dr. Jonathan Clark, managing agent of the DOI Foundation, has put together an entire list https://www.doi.org/more-info of unauthorized entities that mimic the DOI logo and system and purport to register digital object identifiers (only the DOI Foundation’s Registration Agencies are authorized to issue DOI identifiers that comply with ISO 26324 https://www.iso.org/standard/81599.html ).
Clark said the DOI schemes fall into three categories:
• Completely fake DOIs that look like DOIs but do not resolve. These are often used to lend credence to fake or predatory journals, with the goal of tricking researchers into paying author fees. Some are very convincing, and authors sometimes have no idea they have been scammed.
• Fake DOI providers, unauthorized websites that claim to offer DOIs, or something that looks very much like a DOI. Many originate out of India, and while not all may be scams, some are an attempt to issue identifiers to small publishers that (think) they can’t afford to join a DOI Registration Agency.
• What Clark calls “dodgy science” purveyors (e.g., flat earthers) who use fake DOIs to lend credence to nonsense work.
Whatever the category, it’s become a legitimate problem in the publishing world, with legitimacy and real dollars on the line. A typical author processing charge (APC) is between $2,000 and $4,000, and a fake or predatory journal using fake DOIs to pretend to be genuine could cost an author as much as $1,000 out of pocket.
“They are very hard to shut down,” Clark said. “I always send a cease and desist notice and report the trademark and/or copyright infringement to their hosting provider. Usually, this results in the site being taken down, but it always comes back after a while, either on the same provider or a different one. Most providers use fully automated systems to manage infringements, so this is not surprising.”
Adding to the difficulty is the lengths fake DOI providers go to draw in customers. Some fake DOIs can be totally made up, or they use a bona fide existing prefix with a fake suffix. Some sites fake the resolution by putting a link behind them to their own site, Clark said. “The best way to test this is by resolving it on our proxy by prefacing the ‘DOI’ with https://doi.org/ or by using the resolver box on our homepage,” he added.
Clark said he believes the nonprofit scholarly research organization Crossref https://www.crossref.org has been hit hardest by the DOI scammers, simply because of the organization’s size. The DOI Foundation looks to protect it and others in order to defend trademarks and alert researchers before they fall for the scheme.
“I think fake DOIs are part of a much bigger issue around research integrity, and this is HUGE for the major publishers like Elsevier, Springer Nature, Wiley, etc.,” Clark said. “It has the potential to undermine trust in all of their journals. They are seriously worried about it.”
For EIDR and Choi, looking at the DOI’s work against object ID scams means staying ahead of a potential problem for media and entertainment.
“It hasn’t affected our industry yet, but it’s happening to our neighbors,” she said. “It’s something to be aware of before it potentially impacts our space.”
Known, fake DOI schemes include: www.doij.org, www.doi-ojs.org, www.doie.org, www.doiref.org, doi.one, aif-doi.org, and www.doi-ds.org.