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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/9259
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

URLs which span several lines and contain special symbols simply require a short link. Example:

> [http://research.iarc.uaf.edu/presentations/NICOP/NICOP-DVD-ftp-files/NICOP-files-1023am-6\_20/02nd%20International%20Conference%20on%20Permafrost%20-%20North%20American%20Contribution%20-%20Washington%20DC%201973.pdf](http://research.iarc.uaf.edu/presentations/NICOP/NICOP-DVD-ftp-files/NICOP-files-1023am-6_20/02nd%20International%20Conference%20on%20Permafrost%20-%20North%20American%20Contribution%20-%20Washington%20DC%201973.pdf)

In such a case, do not worry and use a (well-known/reliable) link shortener. Tinyurl.com has the advantage, that [http://preview.tinyurl.com/](http://preview.tinyurl.com/) ... leads to a preview site where the user can see the url the link is leading to and then decide whether to proceed to that location or whether not to visit it. Example for the url given above:

> [http://preview.tinyurl.com/NICOP1973NA](http://preview.tinyurl.com/NICOP1973NA)

When you are using a DOI which is too long, you can use a [http://shortdoi.org/](http://shortdoi.org/). While its target is not obvious (is a DOI obvious at all?), it is still a DOI, thus some respectability can be assumed by the reader.

Original score: 0