Research Impact

ORCID stands for "Open Researcher & Contributor ID".

ORCID is an open, non-profit group organization that aims to minimize the problem of name ambiguity in scientific communication and to ensure that people get proper credit for all of their research. ORCID assigns a unique identifier to an individual, registers that identifier, and integrates with key research workflows such as manuscript and grant submission, supporting the linkages between individuals and their professional activities. Registering for an ORCID identifier helps to promote discoverability and to establish a unique presence for researchers and scholars, regardless of name variants or affiliation history.

In 2021, ORCID updated the look and feel of ORCID records (both the public and private views) to modernize the interface and make it more accessible. Read the announcements about the update to the public view and the update to the private/editable "My ORCID" view. 

Neal Silverman's ORCID profile

The ORCID Registry is available free of charge to individuals, who may obtain an ORCID identifier, manage their record of publications, and search for others in the ORCID Registry.

To register for an ORCID, please visit the ORCID website. 

All you have to do is: 

1. Register (allowing everyone to view your ORCID record is helpful for distinguishing you)
2. Add your education, work affiliation, and all the variations of your name
3. Use ORCID's automated tools to add your publications to your profile
4. Use your ORCID -- Add your iD to your email signature, eRA Commons Personal Profile, manuscript and grant submissions, and social network accounts
5. Review your profile each time you publish new scholarship

The "Add Works" menu in gives various options for adding publications to your ORCID profile, including: adding publications manually; adding publications by using a DOI, PMID or other identifier; and by importing publications from other systems.  We recommend as a first step to use the Scopus wizard to import your publications. Scopus is the largest indexing and abstracting database of peer-reviewed scientific literature and will more than likely have indexed publications that belong to you.

Scopus to ORCID step-by-step

1. To begin, click on "Search & link" under "Add Works."
2. Scroll down the list of systems and click on "Scopus - Elsevier."
3. Give Scopus permission to access your ORCID record.
4. Review all the Scopus profile options given to you and select your profile.  If there is more than one Scopus record for you, check the box for each one.  Click "Next."
5. Select your preferred profile name (for example, the version with a middle initial) and click "Next."
6. Review your publications. Click the green check to select the works that are authored by you; click the red X to de-select any works that are not authored by you. Click "Next" when you have finished. Or, if you have additional publications that do not appear in this list, you can search for them. Click on the “Search for missing documents” link at the bottom of the page. Search by title. Check the article that you are looking for and click “Add selected articles.” (If the work does not appear in Scopus, you can add the item manually to your ORCID profile.) Scopus will ask you to confirm any changes to profile name or publications.
7. Review your profile and click "Next."
8. Enter the email address associated with your ORCID profile to send the changes to ORCID and click "Send Author ID."
9. After it has sent your Author ID to ORCID, Scopus will ask your permission to send your publications to ORCID. Click "Send my publication list."
10. You're finished! Click "Return to ORCID" to go back to your ORCID profile and view the added works from Scopus.

There are many circumstances which make linking researchers with their research by name a challenge:

• It is hard to distinguish those with common names (e.g.: Jane Smith, Jin Li)
• It is hard to distinguish those whose names have many potential variations (e.g.: Sofia maria Hernandez Garcia)
• It is difficult to track those who have changed names during their careers
• It is difficult to track those who have different name presentations (e.g.: with a middle initial or without, affiliated with one institution or another)

Unique author identifiers are the solution:

• Distinguish researchers with similar names from one another
• Easier to find research outputs by a particular researcher
• Enable proper recognition for scholarly work ... not just journal articles but also posters, datasets, book chapters, software, etc.
• Solving the name ambiguity problem will enhance discovery and improve research visibility

See this article from Nature: Research Profiles: A Tag of One's Own. "Digital identifiers can sort out different scientists with the same names, and create a lifelong record of their work."

NIH, CDC, and AHRQ released Notice Number NOT-OD-19-109 on July 10, 2019, regarding the mandatory use of ORCID identifiers for individuals supported by research training, fellowship, research education, and career development awards. Individuals will be required to not only have an ORCID iD, but also to link the ORCID iD to their eRA Commons Personal Profile.

As of October 1, 2019, ORCID identifiers will be required for all new appointees on the following awards: 

T03, T15, T32, T34, T35, T37, T42, T90/R90, TL1, TL4, TU2, K12/KL2, R25, R38, RL5, RL9

Beginning with receipt dates on or after January 25, 2020, the requirement for ORCID identifiers will be enforced at the time of application for individual fellowship and career development awards, including the following: 

F05, F30, F31, F32, F33, F37, F38, F99/K00, FI2, K01, K02, K05, K07, K08, K18, K22, K23, K24, K25, K26, K38, K43, K76, K99/R00

NIH has provided instructions on how to create or connect your ORCID iD from the eRA Commons Personal Profile.  For more information about how ORCID benefits NIH researchers, see the blog post from the NIH extramural research program.

The Library can help! Contact Us for assistance.

Of the many profile options available, these are the four we recommend:

• ORCID
• UMass Profiles: UMass Profiles are automatically created for all faculty and are supported by UMMS IT.  Information for faculty about how to login and edit your UMass Profile can be found on the Office of Faculty Affairs website at and also on the IT website, including a tutorial on how to edit a profile.  It is possible to delegate someone else (a proxy) to edit your profile on your behalf, such as a department administrator.
• SciENcv: SciENcv is a free tool you can use to generate an NIH biosketch using information in your My Bibliography account and eRA Commons account. My Bibliography and SciENcv can both be found in your My NCBI account.
• Google Scholar Citations: Google Scholar Citations provide a simple way for authors to keep track of citations to their articles.  See this library resource guide for Information about how to create a profile, add citations, and discover your h-index.

Other media platforms for increasing the presence of your research:

• LinkedIn
• Mendeley
• Social Media (Twitter, Facebook, etc.)
• Repositories (Figshare, Slideshare, etc.)
• Collaborative writing platforms (Medium, Authorea)
• Scholarly Collaboration Networks (ResearchGate, Academia.edu, Scholars Hub, Doximity, ScienceOpen)
  • Note: ResearchGate and Academia.edu are research social networking sites but are not open access repositories which support long-term preservation and dissemination of your scholarly work

• Separate personal and professional identities
• Convey your name consistently and use the same image across platforms
• Use and link available tools to keep your data uniform
• Work incrementally, but consistently on your online identity
• Set alerts in systems that offer them
• Stay alert for updates to existing systems