Introducing the Researcher Identifier ORCID

ORCID (Open Researchers and Contributor ID) Inc., was created in 2010 with the aim to create permanent unique identification codes for researchers that could be used as an international, cross disciplinary, cross institution system to identify researchers and attribute their respective work.

This non-profit effort works through the insertion of an individual's ORCID identifier into the content metadata, allowing the permanent clear association with that individual. Registration for ORCID is free and by the end of the 2013, there were over 460,000 individuals with their own ORCID identifiers.

Users can attribute as much, or as little, personal or professional detail to their ORCID account, and can also tailor their privacy settings to control who has the ability to access said information.

Universities and institutions world-wide, from Boston to Hong Kong and Sweden, are beginning to integrate ORCID into their systems, and are especially useful in regions where there are high concentrations of similar surnames, such as in Wales.

To find out more information about ORCID, or to sign up for an individual identifier, visit the ORCID website.

It is important to note that ORCID is not the only concerted attempt to allocate individuals with unique identification codes. ResearcherID is a similar scheme that works exclusively on the Web of Knowledge (formerly Web of Science).

More information about ResearcherID can be found at their website.

Neil Waghorn
Steve Smith