Examples
Worked examples
- Is an instance
A DataCite DOI for a dataset withdrawn after a quality issue, with the landing page now displaying the withdrawal notice and the metadata frozen.
- Is an instance
A Crossref-DOI article retracted by the publisher, with the landing page now prefixed 'RETRACTED:' and linking to the retraction notice DOI.
Counter-examples
Looks similar, but isn't
- Not an instance
A broken 404 at the DOI's resolved URL is not a tombstone.
- Not an instance
Removing the DOI from doi.org's resolution table would not be tombstoning — it would be deletion, which is strongly discouraged.
- Not an instance
A silent, unannounced content swap at the same URL (no withdrawal notice) is not a tombstone — tombstoning requires the state change to be visible.
Editorial commentary
DOI tombstoning is the recommended pattern when a publisher or repository must remove the underlying content but cannot ethically delete the citation history. DataCite supports an explicit ‘withdrawn’ state; Crossref relies on publisher tombstone landing pages plus the ‘is-retracted-by’ relationship in metadata. The DOI itself stays resolvable: a citation that was correct at the time of publication remains a resolvable reference, with the tombstone explaining the change of state.
Retraction vs. withdrawal
The two are related but distinct states a tombstone can describe. Retraction applies mainly to published literature and follows publisher/COPE retraction-notice conventions — the article record stays, marked as retracted, with a linked retraction notice explaining why. Withdrawal is the broader DataCite term, more commonly used for datasets and software, covering cases from legal takedown to a mistaken duplicate deposit, without necessarily implying the same editorial-integrity process a journal retraction does.
What a well-formed tombstone page typically shows
A properly built tombstone preserves the original bibliographic metadata (title, creators, original publication/deposit date) so the record remains citable and identifiable, states clearly and prominently that the resource has been withdrawn or retracted, gives a reason where one can be disclosed, and links to any replacement or successor version and to the retraction/withdrawal notice itself if one was separately issued.
What this is not
A DOI tombstone is not the same as a dataset landing page in its normal state — it is what that landing page becomes after withdrawal — and it is not full removal of the identifier from the resolution system, which both DataCite and Crossref guidance actively discourage because it breaks the persistence guarantee that makes the identifier trustworthy to cite in the first place.
References
- DataCite, ‘Best Practice — Update Metadata for Withdrawn DOIs’ (support.datacite.org).
Machine-readable encodings
Use in your systems
<role vocab="credit"
vocab-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/"
vocab-term="DOI tombstone"
vocab-term-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/doi-tombstone" />{
"@context": "https://schema.org",
"@type": "DefinedTerm",
"@id": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/doi-tombstone",
"name": "DOI tombstone",
"identifier": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/doi-tombstone",
"description": "A tombstone page served at the resolved URL of a DOI after the underlying resource has been withdrawn, providing withdrawal information and metadata while ensuring the DOI itself continues to resolve.",
"inDefinedTermSet": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/domain/persistent-identifiers#set",
"url": "https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/doi-tombstone",
"sameAs": [],
"license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
"publisher": {
"@id": "https://casrai.org/#organization"
},
"author": {
"@id": "https://casrai.org/#editorial-team"
},
"datePublished": "2026-05-21T02:12:53",
"dateModified": "2026-08-22T15:38:19",
"inLanguage": "en-GB",
"isAccessibleForFree": true
}
