Make an edition citable and stable by giving it three things: a recommended citation a reader can copy, stable internal addresses (xml:id anchors or a logical scheme) that survive a redesign, and at least one archived, versioned release with a persistent identifier such as a DOI. The goal is simple — a scholar must be able to point to exactly the words they mean, and a reader years later must be able to return to them even after your website has changed. This beginner's guide walks through each piece with a small worked example.

Why is "just paste the URL" not enough?

Website URLs are fragile. They change when you move host, switch from one publishing framework to another, or restructure your paths — and every citation that used them dies. They also usually only reach the page, not the passage. A reader who wants to cite one sentence is stuck quoting a whole document.

Citability separates two layers: a logical reference that never changes (what you are pointing at) and a physical location that may change (where it currently lives). Get the logical layer right and the physical layer can move freely.

What are the three levels of citation?

Think in nested units:

Edition        -> "Reed, ed. The Tower Letters (2025), v1.2"  + DOI
Document       -> "Letter 142"                                 + stable id
Passage        -> "Letter 142, line 7"                         + #anchor

Each level needs its own stable handle. The whole edition gets a persistent identifier; each document gets a stable id; each passage gets an addressable anchor.

A small worked example

Start with your TEI. Put a stable xml:id on the units you want citable:

<div type="letter" xml:id="letter142">
  <p xml:id="letter142.07">the council met at the Tower in autumn</p>
</div>

When you render to HTML, carry the id straight through so the passage is reachable at tower-letters/142.html#letter142.07. Even if you later move to a new platform, keep that fragment scheme and old links still resolve. On every page, print the citation a reader should use:

Reed, E., ed. The Tower Letters, v1.2 (2025), Letter 142.7. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.XXXXXX

What is a persistent identifier and how do I get one?

A persistent identifier (PID) is an address an institution promises to keep resolving even as the underlying file moves. The common ones:

PID	Get it from	Good for
DOI	Zenodo, DataCite	versioned releases, whole edition
ARK	California Digital Library, NLPs	objects at scale
Handle	Handle.net services	repositories

For a beginner, the fastest path is to push a tagged release of your edition to Zenodo, which mints a DOI automatically and a second "concept DOI" that always points to the latest version.

How can an edition be both stable and still get corrected?

Stable does not mean frozen — it means versioned. Publish dated, numbered releases (v1.0, v1.1), archive each, and let readers cite either "the latest version" via the concept DOI or "version 1.1" via that release's DOI. A living edition stays trustworthy by making its change history visible:

v1.0  2025-01  first publication
v1.1  2025-04  corrected Letters 30-40, added 12 person identifications

What is the minimum to do today?

You do not need the full apparatus on day one. Do these three and you are genuinely citable:

1. Add a recommended-citation line to every page.
2. Put xml:id anchors on your documents and key passages.
3. Archive one release to Zenodo and display its DOI.

Finer schemes like CTS URNs can come later without breaking any of it.

Key Takeaways

• Separate a logical reference (never changes) from a physical URL (may move).
• Make three levels citable: the edition, each document, and each passage.
• Carry stable xml:id anchors from TEI into HTML fragment URLs.
• Mint a DOI by archiving a tagged release to Zenodo; use the concept DOI for "latest".
• Stable means versioned, not frozen — publish dated releases and show the history.
• Print a copy-ready recommended citation on every page.
• Start with citation line, anchors, and one DOI; refine later.

Frequently Asked Questions

What makes a digital edition citable?

A citable edition gives every meaningful unit — the whole edition, each document, and ideally each passage — a stable, resolvable address plus a human-readable reference, so a scholar can point to exactly the words they mean and a reader can return to them years later.

Why are raw website URLs a bad way to cite an edition?

Site URLs change when you redesign, switch platform or move host, breaking every citation. They also rarely point below the page level. Use persistent identifiers and a stable internal citation scheme that survive the front-end changing.

What is a persistent identifier and which should I use?

A persistent identifier (PID) is an address that an organisation commits to keep resolving, such as a DOI, an ARK or a Handle. For a whole edition or a versioned release, a DOI from Zenodo or DataCite is the easiest starting point.

How do I let people cite a single passage, not just the page?

Give each citable unit a stable xml:id and expose it as a URL fragment, or adopt a logical scheme like CTS URNs. Then a reader can link to #letter142.07 and land on that exact line regardless of layout.

What does 'stable' mean if I keep correcting the edition?

Stable does not mean frozen. Version it: publish dated, numbered releases, archive each one, and let citations target either the latest or a specific version. Living editions stay trustworthy by making their history visible, not by never changing.

What is the minimum I need to make my edition citable today?

Three things: a recommended citation string on every page, stable xml:id anchors on your texts, and one archived release with a DOI. You can add finer-grained schemes later without breaking those.

Related reading

• Add search to a digital edition
• Edition versioning strategies
• Edition sustainability planning
• Persistent identifiers in metadata
• Fixity and checksums for archives