Software with DOIs

ralfs
CRAN¹ has added DOIs to the packages available there. As a test I have imported one of my own packages via the magic wand. The result as seen on https://www.zotero.org/ralfs#ZT8KDEU7 is not bad. But there are some things that could be improved:

* This should be of type Software, not Dataset. Manually changing that would remove the DOI.
* The date 2018-05-11 is the date this package was first published on CRAN. Where does that Zotero find this date? More appropriate might be the date when the current version was published (2024-05-28), which is prominently displayed on the web page.
* Why does Zotero add "Pages: 0.4.1" to the Extra field? That looks like the current version number.

Can/Should this be improved?

1 Comprehensive R Archive Network, a site with software (and some datasets) for the statistical programming language R.
  • adamsmith
    Could you put the DOI you used here so that were looking at the same package?
  • ralfs
    Sure: 10.32614/CRAN.package.dqrng
  • ralfs
    Based on a discussion on Mastodon, c.f. https://fosstodon.org/@zeileis/112621531499575718, I have now learned that much of this is based on CRAN making use of crossref, c.f. https://api.crossref.org/works/10.32614/CRAN.package.dqrng, where "dataset" is the closest thing to "software".

    Of course, it would be great if Zotero would allow a DOI field for "software". This way the entry could be cleaned up after importing.
  • aborel
    A DOI for software is already allowed. Zotero currently supports DOIs in various reference types using an "Extra" field https://www.zotero.org/support/kb/item_types_and_fields#citing_fields_from_extra

    Eventually, the DOI will get generalized, the Extra value should be migrated automatically, and everybody will rejoice. Unfortunately, there is no automatic migration from a natural DOI to an Extra one when you change the type of a reference from (for example) dataset to software, but you can enter it manually. Would this work-around be OK for you?
  • ralfs
    Thanks for the suggestion! That should work for now, but I am still looking forward to a generalized DOI.
  • asteino
    Same. DOIs can be assigned to lots of different material types. While the "Extra" field is a fine catch-all, DOIs have been around long enough that they should have their own field in every item type profile. I'd like to see Zotero stop removing the DOI field from most item types, but "Document" is my current annoyance.
  • bwiernik
    Adding DOI to all item types is planned
  • asteino
    Glad to hear it!
Sign In or Register to comment.