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Doujinshi (dojinshi) (同人誌) is a Japanese word that technically means "a book for people of the same interests." What is inside the book can vary. One of the most common forms of doujinshi is fan manga (fan comics), but doujinshi can contain a variety of materials: fanfics, sketches and drawings, guest art, original stories, original comics, reviews, opinions - anything, really. Many doujinshi have combinations of the above; sometimes, but not always, online auctions will list the distribution of text and comics (for example, 30% text, 70% comics). Serious doujinshi collectors should quickly learn the kanji for "novel" (小説), which is how the Japanese refer to fanfics. (Many doujinshi contain only novels.)

Most doujinshi are produced in Japan, though there are also doujinshi from China and Korea. Doujinshi are most often created based on anime, video games, and manga, although there are other sources, too, such as ones based on musicians (J-pop singers and J-rock groups), movies (like The Lord of the Rings), books (notably Harry Potter), and TV shows (such as Supernatural).

In the Western world, "doujinshi" has come to refer to fan manga, although (as explained above) this is not an entirely accurate definition. "Doujinshi" has also been used to refer to online fan manga in the west.

The copyright issue of doujinshi is a bit iffy in Japan. However, because doujinshi is priced only to cover the expenses of printing them, and since many professional mangaka (manga artists) got their start doing doujinshi (like CLAMP), most companies tolerate them. Some mangaka and mangaka assistants release doujinshi even after going professional. For example, Tanemura Arina's art assistants regularly release dojin (including romantic hentai dojin!) based on Tanemura's manga series; their books are released under the circle name Strawberry Lunch. Akamatsu Ken, creator of Love Hina, still releases many doujinshi (including hentai dojin) for various anime/manga series. Takeuchi Naoko, the creator of Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon, released a sixth artbook that was technically a doujinshi; called "Infinity," the artbook featured Sailor Moon artwork by her friends, including professional mangaka, and by people involved with Sailor Moon (such as the anime seiyuu).

There are doujinshi conventions held regularly in Japan where people sell and buy doujinshi. These include major conventions such as Comiket, in which one can find doujinshi from any fandom, to minor cons or special events geared towards specific fandoms or pairings. Most doujinshika (doujinshi creators) will indicate on their websites or in their latest doujinshi which conventions they plan on attending and on what days they will appear, sometimes with titles of doujinshi they plan on selling there.

Doujinshika do not profit from their works. The costs of their books are only to cover the price of printing. The reason why doujinshi is often so expensive for people living outside of Japan is that middlemen usually sell doujinshi, which are normally only printed in limited quantites, for marked-up prices. Furthermore, the cost of international shipping, as well as commission fees for using deputy services, contribute to the increased cost for non-Japanese.

Doujinshika are usually known by their "circle" names (and sometimes pseudonyms), rather than by their real names. "Circles" (サークル) are the groups that publish the doujinshi. Although many circles have only a few contributors (artists, writers, etc.) and many only have one (technically called something else, but now often referred to as "personal circles"), the number depends on the group and the project. Doujinshika sometimes change their circle names or pseudonyms depending on different factors such as time, fandom, and participants.

Ratings, genres, and content of doujinshi vary greatly, from comedy to romance to drama to sexually explicit material. Again, most doujinshi have fan manga, but many also have, or only have, fanfics (novels), reviews, and opinions. Some doujinshi focus on pairings or couples ("BL" = boys love / male x male, "NL" = normal love / male x female, "GL" = girls love / female x female [rarely used]), others do not. Page length of doujinshi also ranges widely. Basically, like any other medium, quality and subject matter will differ depending on who is producing it.

The standard doujinshi size is Japanese B5 (7.2 x 10.1 inches). Other common sizes are A5 (5.8 x 8.3 inches) and A4 (8.3 x 11.7 inches). A5 is also the standard size for anthologies. Although most doujinshi are printed and bound professionally by printing companies (called "offset" doujinshi), many doujinshika also release "copy-bon" (copy books) (コピー本), which are self-printed books (generally quite short) that are made from lower-quality materials; for example, many copy-bon are just photocopied and stapled together. Note that the content of the book is not necessarily lower quality; many copy-bon are highly sought after, as they are often produced in even smaller quantities than normal doujinshi.

In addition to doujinshi, there are also doujin products like stationary (which are very popular as well), cards, pencil boards, calendars, and other goods.