A DOI, or digital object identifier, is a unique number that some journals assign to their articles so that they can be located more easily online. APA Style requires that DOIs be included at the end of article citations, if they are available. However, some journals do not use DOIs. If you are citing an article that does not have a DOI, simply omit it.
Because this is a major change from APA 6th edition, this page provides details and examples to help you make this transition.
APA 7th edition specifies that DOIs in article references should be formatted as URLs, in other words, starting with http:// or https://
Consider this reference, generated by the library database's "Cite" tool:
Sutherland, M., & Parent, A. (2017). Diagnosis and management of cellulitis: a dermatology perspective. British Journal of Community Nursing, 22(6), 272–275. https://doi-org.ezproxy.delhi.edu/10.12968/bjcn.2017.22.6.272
Although the DOI at the end of the reference does begin with "https://" the database has automatically inserted "ezproxy.delhi.edu," which comes from the library's login system. Your instructors may ask you to remove this from your DOI, as a reader without a SUNY Delhi username and password would not be able to access that URL.
Remove "ezproxy.delhi.edu" and be sure that your URL starts with "https://doi.org/" It should ultimately look like this:
Sutherland, M., & Parent, A. (2017). Diagnosis and management of cellulitis: a dermatology perspective. British Journal of Community Nursing, 22(6), 272–275. https://doi.org./10.12968/bjcn.2017.22.6.272
This article does not have a DOI, and it was retrieved from a library database, so it does not have a URL, either.
Green, T. (2020). Challenges of managing patients with chronic oedema and leg ulceration. Journal of Community Nursing, 34(3), 41–49.
The reference ends with the page numbers (41-49) and no further information is required.