ORCID – an international system for identifying scientists. It solves the problem of matching names and inconsistent surname spelling in publications. A profile on the platform has long been a standard requirement when submitting an article to many academic journals.
What is ORCID?
ORCID (Open Researcher and Contributor ID) is a non-profit organisation and the platform of the same name used to identify scientists. It has been running since 2012 and works with journals, universities and research funders all over the world. Each user is assigned a unique 16-digit code – an ORCID iD. The code looks like a string of digits separated by hyphens, for example 0000-0002-1825-0097.
A profile isn’t tied to a particular publisher or database. It stays with the scientist throughout their career. The code doesn’t change even if they switch jobs, move to a different country or change their surname.
ORCID solves the problem of author identification
Many scientists share similar first names and surnames. The transliteration of Armenian names into the Latin alphabet can also vary from one article to another. As a result, publications sometimes end up attributed to someone else’s profile, or get lost entirely in searches.
This kind of confusion also affects bibliometric indicators. If one scientist’s work is scattered across several profiles, their citation count may be calculated incorrectly.
Before ORCID, scientists relied on separate identifiers – Scopus Author ID or Web of Science ResearcherID, for example. These profiles are generated automatically and are often duplicated. An ORCID profile, by contrast, is created by the individual just once and stays permanently linked to them.
Why should a scientist create an ORCID profile?
A profile on the platform brings several practical benefits at once:
- makes it easier to submit a manuscript to academic journals
- reduces the risk of confusion when names overlap with other authors
- brings together publications, employment and education in one place
- updates automatically once linked to Scopus, Web of Science and Crossref
- is required by a number of journals and when applying for grants
The list can be extended further. The more complete a profile is, the easier it becomes for colleagues and editorial boards to find information about a particular scientist.
Registering a profile takes a few steps
Setting up an account takes a few minutes. No confirmation is needed from a university or an editorial board.
- Go to the official website orcid.org and open the registration section.
- Enter your first name, surname (if applicable) and email address.
- Choose a password and confirm it by entering it again.
- Select a privacy level for your profile data – public, limited or private.
- Confirm your registration via the link sent to your email.
At this point, the profile already exists. But it’s still empty, and it’s up to the scientist to fill it in.
The ORCID iD itself is visible to every user of the network without exception. The privacy level applies to the rest of the profile data: the public setting makes it visible to everyone, the limited setting only to selected organisations, and the private setting only to the profile’s owner.
What to add to your profile after registration?
Works can be added manually or found automatically through the built-in database search. The second option is more reliable, as the data is pulled from verified sources without errors in the spelling of names.
It’s also worth adding your place of work, education and research interests. A separate feature allows journals and organisations permission to update the profile directly. New publications then appear in ORCID without any manual input.
ORCID is gradually becoming part of the standard research infrastructure. A profile is useful at every stage of a scientific career – from postgraduate study to a doctoral defence and further research work. The earlier it’s created, the fewer complications arise later when submitting articles or completing reporting requirements.
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