NullPointerException in DOI creation causes silent registration failures during dataset creation

What steps does it take to reproduce the issue?

• When does this issue occur?

This issue occurs intermittently during dataset creation when author affiliations are selected from the ROR (Research Organization Registry) autocomplete dropdown. The failure is timing-dependent, occurring approximately 10-50% of the time depending on system load.

• Which page(s) does it occurs on?

Dataset creation page (dataset.xhtml?ownerId=X&editMode=CREATE)

• What happens?

1. User creates a new dataset and fills in metadata
2. User adds an author and types in the "Author Affiliation" field
3. User selects an organization from the ROR autocomplete dropdown (e.g., "UPC - Universidad Politécnica de Cataluña")
4. User clicks "Save"
5. Dataset saves successfully and DOI identifier is assigned (e.g., doi:10.82201/XXXXXX)
6. However, the DOI is NOT registered with DataCite
7. Database shows: identifierregistered=false and globalidcreatetime=NULL
8. User sees "DOI not reserved" banner on the dataset page
9. Logs show: java.lang.NullPointerException in AbstractPidProvider.getTargetUrl()

This is a silent data integrity failure - the dataset appears to save successfully, but the DOI is not actually registered with the PID provider.

• To whom does it occur (all users, curators, superusers)?

All users who create datasets. The issue is not permission-based or role-based.

• What did you expect to happen?

Expected behavior:

• Dataset saves successfully
• DOI is registered with DataCite
• Database shows identifierregistered=true and globalidcreatetime has a timestamp
• No "DOI not reserved" banner appears
• DOI resolves correctly

Which version of Dataverse are you using?

Confirmed on both Dataverse 6.5 AND 6.8

Production environment (6.5):

• Dataverse: 6.5
• Payara: 6.2023.8
• PostgreSQL: 16.6
• OS: Rocky Linux 9

Test environment (6.8):

• Dataverse: 6.8
• Payara: 6.2023.8+
• Same bug occurs

Configuration:

• DOI Provider: DataCite (REST API)
• External Vocab Support: Enabled (ROR + ORCID)
• JVM properties: dataverse.pid.default-provider=datacite-prod

Any related open or closed issues to this bug report?

None found.

This appears to be an unreported race condition in the DOI creation transaction flow.

Screenshots:

Log excerpt showing the NullPointerException pattern:

[2025-10-30T08:23:36.855] FINE: DataCiteDOIProvider.createIdentifier
[2025-10-30T08:23:36.856] FINE: AbstractPidProvider.getMetadataForCreateIndicator
[2025-10-30T08:23:36.857] FINE: AbstractPidProvider.getTargetUrl
[2025-10-30T08:23:36.860] WARNING: DataCiteDOIProvider
  Identifier not created: create failed
java.lang.NullPointerException
[2025-10-30T08:23:36.860] INFO: AbstractDatasetCommand
  Call to globalIdServiceBean.createIdentifier failed: java.lang.NullPointerException

Database state after failure:

SELECT identifier, identifierregistered, globalidcreatetime
FROM dvobject WHERE identifier = 'EWDNT1';

identifier | identifierregistered | globalidcreatetime
-----------+----------------------+-------------------
EWDNT1     | false                | NULL

Root Cause:

The getTargetUrl() method in AbstractPidProvider attempts to call dvObjectIn.getGlobalId().asString(), but getGlobalId() returns null because the GlobalId hasn't been assigned yet during the DOI creation process. This is a race condition in the transaction flow.

Code location: src/main/java/edu/harvard/iq/dataverse/pidproviders/AbstractPidProvider.java

Failing line (approximate):

public String getTargetUrl(DvObject dvObjectIn) {
    return SystemConfig.getDataverseSiteUrlStatic()
         + dvObjectIn.getTargetUrl()
         + dvObjectIn.getGlobalId().asString();  // ← NPE: getGlobalId() returns null
}

Reproduction Steps:

1. Enable debug logging:

   asadmin set-log-levels edu.harvard.iq.dataverse.pidproviders=FINE
   asadmin set-log-levels edu.harvard.iq.dataverse.pidproviders.doi.datacite=FINEST
   

2. Create new dataset with:

   • Title: "Test Dataset"
   • Description: "Testing DOI bug"
   • Author Name: "Test Author"
   • Author Affiliation: Select an organization from ROR dropdown (don't just type text)
     • Type "Universidad" or "UPC" or "Catalan"
     • Select from autocomplete dropdown

3. Click Save

4. Check logs for NullPointerException

5. Check database:

   SELECT identifier, identifierregistered, globalidcreatetime
   FROM dvobject
   WHERE protocol = 'doi'
   ORDER BY createtime DESC
   LIMIT 1;
   

If identifierregistered = false and globalidcreatetime IS NULL, the bug occurred.

Workaround (100% Success Rate):

Users can avoid this issue by:

1. Create dataset with minimal metadata (title + description only, no author)
2. Save → DOI registers successfully ✅
3. Edit dataset to add author with ROR affiliation
4. Save changes ✅

This works because the DOI is already registered during the initial save, and the edit operation doesn't trigger DOI recreation.

Impact:

In our production environment:

• 10 datasets affected since October 27, 2025
• Failure rate: 10-50% when ROR affiliations are selected
• 6 different institutions affected (not institution-specific)
• All required manual remediation

Severity: High - Silent data integrity failure affecting persistent identifiers

Are you thinking about creating a pull request for this issue?

Not currently feasible

nullpointer-example-log.txt

We have extensive debug logs and can provide additional information as needed. We're committed to helping resolve this issue.

Start in src/main/java/edu/harvard/iq/dataverse/pidproviders/AbstractPidProvider.java and inspect getTargetUrl() along the DOI creation flow. Reproduce with a dataset author selected from the ROR autocomplete, then compare logs and dvobject state with the minimal-metadata workaround. Done means the reported creation path no longer silently leaves identifierregistered=false and globalidcreatetime=NULL, with the relevant behavior covered by tests.