ORCID: the unique identifier for authors of scientific work
ORCID ensures that research, scientific articles and authors are easier to find. In addition, research is easier to distinguish and links between research, grants and innovation activities become more visible.
What is ORCID
ORCID stands for 'Open Researcher and Contributor IDentity' and its mission is to make transparent and reliable links between research, grants and innovation activities visible. ORCID improves the findability of the information. It will also make it easier to generate reports and analyses, for example on the number of publications by researchers affiliated with a particular university or the total scientific output within the Netherlands. In addition, ORCID provides direct added value for researchers: it is a personal signature that enables a researcher to automatically fill his or her profile with the research output as registered in the institution's CRIS ('Current Research Information System'). This generates an up-to-date overview of the researcher's scientific output.
In 2010, ORCID was established as an independent, international, not-for-profit system that provides researchers with a persistent 'identifier'. This identifier enables researchers to share their own data with a database where their scientific articles and affiliations are displayed. An important principle of ORCID is that the researcher retains ownership of his or her ORCID and can decide what information is shared. There are now more than 7.5 million ORCID registrations worldwide.
Why ORCID?
In bibliographic systems it often happens that sources are attributed to the wrong author. Personal names can change over time and are very similar. For example, authors may change institutions and now work somewhere else. ORCID offers a unique and persistent 'identifier' for researchers to link to their research output, making it easier to distinguish.
Watch the video for more information on ORCID
ORCID Consortium in the Netherlands
ORCID has fifteen consortia in Europe, including the Dutch ORCID consortium ORCID-NL. SURF leads the Dutch consortium, together with UKB. ORCID-NL currently has sixteen members: all the Dutch universities, the KNAW, and Geánt.
Every year, we organise four consortium meetings where members can exchange experiences. We also work with ORCID on product improvements. We also offer support in the further implementation of ORCID by the consortium members.
