DOI: Digital origin identifier
As electronic publishing becomes standardized, publishers are able to offer “advance publication” of journal articles online, before they appear in the formally catalogued print version of the journal. Most academic journal articles automatically receive a DOI and corresponding web address, as in the Berglund and Andersson (2012) reference list entry below.
Berglund, L,. and Andersson, P., 2012. Recognition of knowledge and skills at work: in whose interests? Journal of Workplace Learning, 24 (2): 73–84. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/13665621211201670
The DOI is permanent, meaning that it remains the same when an “advance published” article is eventually included in the formally catalogued version of the journal (volume 24, issue number 2 of the Journal of Workplace Learning).
For journal articles, therefore, wherever a DOI is provided by the publisher, it should be included in the references list entry. This is especially important for “advance published” articles that are later formally catalogued, after you have completed your thesis.
Electronic publishing also affects the publication of books. Publishers are able to sell electronic versions of complete books, or individual chapters, although not all publishers choose to do this. Those that do make this option available are assigning DOIs to both complete books and individual chapters. It is not necessary to include these when listing books or book chapters in your references list.