There are four types of members in the DOI Academy: General, Registration Agency, Charter, and Affiliate. Membership in the DOI Academy is not required to assign DOI names; however, affiliation with a Registration Agency is necessary. Users, defined as any individual or their machine seeking to resolve a DOI name, do not need to be members and can utilize the DOI Academy proxy without limitations. Resolving DOIs is, and will remain, free of charge.

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Who Are The Users Of Doi ?

There are two kinds of DOI users: registrants and resolvers.

Registrants are individuals or organizations that wish to uniquely identify something using the DOI system. They register DOI names with a Registration Agency (RA) and may use multiple RAs if they have diverse content or application needs. Registrants manage their own content, maintaining URLs and data directly or through a contract with an RA. They are not required to be members of the DOI Foundation and are considered customers or clients of an RA. Depending on the RA's business model, registrants may or may not pay for services.

Resolvers are any individuals or machines that want to resolve a DOI. They do not need to be members and can use the DOI Foundation proxy freely. Resolving DOIs is, and will always be, free of charge.