idutils

1.6.0 verified Fri May 01 auth: no python

A small library for detecting, validating, normalizing, and converting persistent identifiers used in scholarly communication, such as DOI, ORCID, ISBN, arXiv, and more. Current version 1.6.0 supports Python >=3.7. Release cadence is irregular, with maintenance updates as needed.

pip install idutils

Common errors

error ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'idutils' ↓

cause Package not installed or virtual environment not activated.

fix

Run 'pip install idutils' in the correct environment.

error AttributeError: module 'idutils' has no attribute 'is_doi' ↓

cause Attempting to call is_doi as idutils.is_doi() without importing the function.

fix

Use 'from idutils import is_doi' then call 'is_doi(...)' directly.

error ValueError: invalid identifier type: 'unknown' ↓

cause Passing an unsupported or misspelled identifier type to a function that expects a specific type.

fix

Check the list of supported types in the documentation and ensure correct string (e.g., 'doi', 'orcid').

Warnings

gotcha Function names are not intuitive; some are prefixed with 'is_' (e.g., is_doi) and some with 'check_' (e.g., check_doi). Always check the documentation for the correct function name. ↓

fix Refer to official API docs to avoid using non-existent functions like 'validate_doi'.

gotcha Normalization functions may return different formats (e.g., 'doi:10....' vs 'https://doi.org/10...'). Always test output before use. ↓

fix Read function docstrings to understand the output format.

gotcha ISBN validation is not fully robust: it may accept invalid ISBNs due to checksum bypass in older versions. Upgrade to latest version (1.6.0) for improved validation. ↓

fix pip install --upgrade idutils

Imports

is_id
wrong
```
import idutils; idutils.is_id()
```
correct
```
from idutils import is_id
```
is_id is a top-level function, not a module.
normalize_doi
wrong
```
from idutils.doi import normalize_doi
```
correct
```
from idutils import normalize_doi
```
Functions are not in submodules; import directly from idutils.

Quickstart

Simple check and normalization of a DOI.

from idutils import is_doi, normalize_doi

doi = '10.1234/example'
print(is_doi(doi))          # True
print(normalize_doi(doi))    # 'doi:10.1234/example'