Open the PMC record from the identifier, read its article metadata, and cross-check the DOI and authors in a registry such as Crossref before formatting the citation. This sequence keeps the citation tied to the correct article.
- Open the PMC record. Enter the PMC ID in PubMed Central or a fielded search in Europe PMC to retrieve the record. The record page displays the article metadata, including title, authors, journal, and DOI.
- Read the article metadata. Note the full author list, article title, journal name, year, volume, issue, and page numbers or article number. These fields form the citation.
- Cross-check the DOI and authors in a registry. Use the DOI to look up the deposited metadata in Crossref. The DOI lookup returns the metadata deposited for that DOI. Compare the title, author list, and journal details with the PMC record. If the DOI is missing from the PMC record, search Crossref by article title and authors to locate the DOI.
- Resolve any mismatch. If the PMC record and the Crossref deposit disagree on authors or title, treat the citation as unresolved and verify against the publisher's article page before formatting.
- Format the citation. Use the verified metadata in your required citation style. Keep the DOI in the citation so the article identity remains traceable.
This workflow uses the PMC record as the starting point and the registry deposit as a cross-check. The result is a complete citation whose DOI, authors, and title all point to the same article.