When you fund a research project, you’re investing in ideas with the power to change the world. But what happens after the award is made? How do you track its ripple effects — the publications, data sets, collaborations, even future funding it helps unlock?
That’s the challenge more and more funders are trying to solve. And one of the most powerful tools in that effort? A Grant DOI.
What’s a Grant DOI?
You’ve probably heard of DOIs for journal articles. Grant DOIs are similar, but instead of identifying a publication, they identify the grant itself (the award that made the research possible).
These persistent identifiers serve as a digital fingerprint, creating a traceable, citable record of the funding. When linked properly, they can connect to all the outcomes generated from that grant: papers, software, preprints, even other grants. That level of visibility is game-changing for funders, researchers, institutions, and the public.
Why Altum Invested in Grant DOI Integration
Back in 2020, Altum became an official sponsoring partner of Crossref, the organization behind Grant DOIs. By 2021, we had fully integrated the system into ProposalCentral, making it easier than ever for funders to assign and manage Grant DOIs within the platform they already use to administer awards.
Today, several funders are actively generating Grant DOIs through ProposalCentral, and that number is growing.
Why are they adopting it? Because the benefits are hard to ignore:
- Trackable outcomes. Easily follow the trail from funding to impact.
- Global discoverability. Grant DOIs are part of Crossref’s open infrastructure, used by thousands of platforms and APIs around the world.
- Better reporting. With metadata that can be searched, filtered, and analyzed, telling your impact story becomes a whole lot easier.
How It Works
Altum has worked closely with Crossref to ensure that adoption is seamless. Once you register as a Crossref member and receive your prefix, you can start creating Grant DOIs directly in ProposalCentral. Here’s what happens next:
- You generate a DOI with a unique, persistent format tied to your award.
- A landing page for that grant is automatically created.
- Metadata updates can be made in the system as the grant evolves.
You don’t need to become a metadata expert or build out a whole new process. ProposalCentral handles the heavy lifting behind the scenes.
Why This Matters Now
Research is more connected than ever, and funders are being asked to demonstrate the outcomes of their investments with greater precision. Whether it’s a government audit, an internal board report, or a public call for transparency, the ability to clearly link funding to results is valuable and expected.
Grant DOIs also support the broader shift toward open infrastructure in scholarly research. They help create what Crossref calls a “research nexus” — a rich, interconnected web of people, organizations, and outputs that future innovation can build upon.
In other words, they’re not just about documentation. They’re about making research better.
Join the Movement
If you’re a funder using ProposalCentral, you’re already halfway there. Adding Grant DOIs to your workflow is a small step with a big return for you, your grantees, and the global research community.
Want to see it in action? Check out the Crossref’s Grant Linking System page and reach out to Rocio Gaudioso Pedraza to learn more about Crossref membership for your organization.
Because when grants are easier to find, cite, and connect — everyone wins.
