For the followers of this thread, here is information how can DOI can be generated at RG! Link follows! There are many different opinions about DOI which is generated by author! Blog about follows! "The feature in question? ResearchGate is now generating DOIs for content. And that’s started to generate interesting conversations among those in the know.Here’s why: DOIs are unique, persistent identifiers that publishers and repositories issue for their content, with the understanding that URLs break all the time. A preservation strategy is expected when one starts issuing DOIs, and yet ResearchGate hasn’t announced one, nor has DataCite (which issues ResearchGate’s DOIs).Some other interesting questions: what happens when users decide to delete content, or leave the site altogether? Will ResearchGate force content to remain online, or allow DOIs to redirect to broken URLs?"

https://explore.researchgate.net/display/support/Generating+a+DOI

http://blog.impactstory.org/researchgate-doi/

I'm affraid, DOI don't give the status of official publishing without executing of peer-reviewing procedure.

I just made experiment. I typed DOI Number of the text under discussion into GOOGLE search engine. No matching documents came out. Then I typed the title of the text, both the text and DOI # appeared as the page on RG. 

In the case I type the title of a paper published in a peer reviewed Journal, I get only the Abstract, with the offer to buy full text PDF. In this case, RG acts as the Open Acsess Publisher, the text is available and is free of charge. And as easy to find as in any official recognised journal. 

For the followers of this thread, here is information how can DOI can be generated at RG! Link follows! There are many different opinions about DOI which is generated by author! Blog about follows! "The feature in question? ResearchGate is now generating DOIs for content. And that’s started to generate interesting conversations among those in the know.Here’s why: DOIs are unique, persistent identifiers that publishers and repositories issue for their content, with the understanding that URLs break all the time. A preservation strategy is expected when one starts issuing DOIs, and yet ResearchGate hasn’t announced one, nor has DataCite (which issues ResearchGate’s DOIs).Some other interesting questions: what happens when users decide to delete content, or leave the site altogether? Will ResearchGate force content to remain online, or allow DOIs to redirect to broken URLs?"

https://explore.researchgate.net/display/support/Generating+a+DOI

http://blog.impactstory.org/researchgate-doi/

DOI Number (Digital Object Identifier) is is a specific number given to paper as identification. DOI makes the text an official publication.

If you know DOI number, you can search paper without giving "Title of the paper", year, Vol., Issue No., pp.

Some Journals even ask for DOI number while making list of references.

If full reference is not available or paper accepted but not published (forthcoming paper), DOI serves the purpose.

Thanks!

The DOI for a given content item must be created and assigned by the publisher or other organization with authority to register DOI on the publisher’s behalf.

Once assigned to a content item, the DOI is permanently assigned to it regardless of changes in ownership or location of the content. While publishers must create and register DOIs using their own unique prefix,

once a DOI is assigned, ownership and control of individual DOIs are transferred along with content ownership or control.

APA recommend that when DOIs are available, you include them for both print and electronic sources. The DOI is typically located on the first page of the electronic journal article, near the copyright notice. The DOI can also be found on the database landing page for the article.

http://www.crossref.org/02publishers/doi-guidelines.pdf

http://www.apastyle.org/learn/faqs/what-is-doi.aspx

I agree with Juha Alatalo, rating the text with DOI # only as non peer reviewed publication. 

And so are papers in Conference Proceedings. They are the papers, but not reviewed by peers. And, sure, within CV they should be indicated as non peer reviewed publications. 

And, sure, that is DOI, not DOE, so, I corrected within the question, but majority here got the correct idea regardless of my error. Sorry for that. Thanks to Brenda, who noticed. 

So the publication status is more important than the ideas made available whatever the publication status? Does all this imply that the reader can not judge what is useful or not useful?

Marcel is right, content of the paper is more important than the place the paper is published. But for the author the status of official publication is important as well, so, DOI # provides status of official publication.

For a retired Scientist like me, impact points are not important, they don't affect my standing in organization, or my income. It gives me idea to publish paper on RG first, to ask my peers to review my paper, to revise the paper according with reviews, then to obtain DOI #, to supplement the paper with reviews by peers. Then, I have peer reviewed paper published by Research Gate. Granting DOI # RG becomes not only secondary publisher, but the main publisher of the original results as well. 

And we, Scientist, have our choice.

I believe that the ResearchGate DOIs will work, after search engines have indexed them, so it may take a few days or even weeks.  But the ResearchGate DOI does not automatically mean that the publication has been peer-reviewed.  It only means that the file can be easily located.

Someone planning to cite a paper found in ResearchGate should still evaluate the time and place of the actual publication or conference (or lack thereof).

Dear Prof. Alexander

Official or unofficial is probably relative, more important is the content and its utilization by other researchers. Since such articles have not been cited in 'traditional' or 'official' subscription-based or open-access journals, we need to wait and see how these journals respond to RG DOI citations.

I am afraid if such DOIs are accepted as peer-reviewed 'official' publications, like open-access journals there will be mushrooming or flood of such scholar sites on the web offering quick publications and DOIs for a price.

To Dr.Rao. RG has over 5 million participants, so, paper uploaded on RG has better exposure than in any high profile journal. As content of the paper is the KING, place of publication is not so important. 

Grigoriy Perelman, the Mathematician, who declined Field Prize amd $1 million, exposed his paper(s) on Internet only, not in a peer review Journal. But as the content was GREAT, his works become Internationally recognized and prazed. That is the best example., 

The Digital Object Identifier (DOI) is a standard that allows the identification lasting, within a digital network, of any entity that is the subject of intellectual property and to associate the related reference data, the metadata, in a structured format and extensible.

DOI has been called "the bar code for intellectual property": like the barcodes of physical products, the use of DOI adds value and saves resources along the entire production and distribution chain.

From Wilkipedia

Major applications of the DOI system currently include -- persistent citations in scholarly materials --journal articles, books, ebooks, etc.-- through CrossRef.

Alexander

As you and Marcel agree, content is everything. Your question of "official" would need someone to define official. Peer review is used by most to legitimize a publication. Peer review sounds good, but is a failure. It is much abused. Yesterday, I read three peer-reviewed publications in well-rated journals that were hopelessly useless. Content is everything. 

The DOI is an excellent way to reference work. So what if there is an explosion of DOI's? Is that any different from the explosion of journals publishing useless results that had anonymous peer review?

We can have open publishing with open review. It could allow a much better exchange of views and information.

I agree, Joseph, open review is better, more honest. Peers on RG can review any paper they wish, there is the option. 

Here is the example. During discussion on time, on RG site, Demetris Christopoulos from Athens came with simple and impressive defenition of time, uploaded paper within his RG site. I worked on this problem myself, but did not come with defenition. But, at leat I know the problem, so, I submitted positive review on Demetris paper, as his peer. Demetris informed me that his paper has DOI #, but I can't see it.

I attach Demetris paper, recommend the reading of this paper to everyone. Piece of ART. 

I continue my post. Thus, Demetris Paper on Time is Published and is Peer reviewed within RG system. It is easy to find for everyone, who searches recent papers on TIME. So, the paper is published. 

I just made the experiment, typing THE SIMPLE DEFINITION OF TIME into Google Search. Both, DEMETRIS' paper and Review came out as the RG page. So, the paper is easy to find. 

The DOI generated by Reseachgate is not perhaps opened the link documents. One of my publication for which DOI was generated by Researchgate is not opening when search in Google. 

@Manoj. I have experience similar to yours. Is there any special SEARCH program for DOI numbers ?

I have tested RG many times and comes first at google rank, so RG is efficient.

The problems come from professors who always ask about "is it a formal publication" and mean the usual journal publications.

We need time for the transition to the new...

All depends on the particular case. If some one, not a famous one, comes with a brave paper, where TIME is the subject, like Demetris paper, he/she will be rejected in established Journals on Physics. Here the option come, RG. And reviews from peers either come on their own, or, can be requested by the author. With DOI # supplied by RG, paper is both, published and has review(s). This is the new way to fight for publication rights. The rest depends on the paper merits. 

Dear Alexander,

Dear All,

Peer review and specific publication identification numbers mean only that the given study has been evaluated somehow. This is - depending on the journals and the reviewing persons – a standard evaluation which really cannot guarantee either the originality or the merit. This is only a personnel opinion.

DOI Number attributed to the text can give specificity and identification to the text.