Research Impact

ORCID, which stands for "Open Researcher and Contributor ID," is a free, unique, persistent identifier (PID) for individuals to use as they engage in research and scholarship. ORCID's aim is 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. Registering for an ORCID identifier helps researchers to establish a unique, lifelong presence regardless of name variants or affiliation history, to utilize portable profile data, and to reduce reduce administrative burden.

Linking researchers with their scholarship can be a challenge:

• Distinguishing those with common names (e.g.: Jane Smith, Jin Li)
• Distinguishing those whose names have many potential variations (e.g.: Sofia Maria Hernandez Garcia)
• Tracking those who have changed names during their careers
• Tracking 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
• Easier to find research outputs by a particular researcher
• Achieve proper recognition for scholarly work ... not just journal articles but also datasets, preprints, posters, book chapters, software, etc.
• Enable automatic updates to your profile as you publish
• Solving the name ambiguity problem will enhance discovery and improve research visibility

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

All you have to do is: 

1. Register for an ORCID -- search for yourself first to help confirm you don't already have one
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. Make your record public by choosing the Everyone visibility setting -- this is helpful for distinguishing you
5. Use your ORCID -- Add your iD to your email signature, eRA Commons Personal Profile, biosketch, manuscript and grant submissions, and social network accounts
6. Review your profile each time you publish new scholarship

The "Works" section in ORCID 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 probably include publications that belong to you.

Add your publications in Scopus to ORCID step-by-step

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

Federal agencies are increasingly requiring researchers to have a unique, persistent digital identifier such as an ORCID iD to apply for funding. 

• Since FY2020, ORCID iDs have been required for all NIH, AHRQ, and CDC grant submissions (NOT-OD-19-109). Individuals are required to not only have an ORCID iD, but also to link the ORCID iD to their eRA Commons Personal Profile.
• As of October 2023, NSF proposal submissions mandate the use of SciENcv for biosketches (PAPPG (NSF 24-1)). You can use your ORCID profile to feed information into the components of the SciENcv Biosketch and My Bibliography.
• The 2022 Office of Science and Technology Policy Public Access Memo requires all federal funders to collect from all funded authors a unique digital persistent identifier that meets the criteria defined in the NSPM-33 Implementation Guidance -- which ORCID iDs do. Agency policies must be fully implemented by December 31, 2027.
• Review ORCID's list of funders with policies or statements on the use of ORCID iDs.

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

• ORCID
• UMass Profiles: UMass Profiles are automatically created for all faculty and are supported by UMass Chan IT.  Information for faculty about how to login and edit your UMass Profile can be found on the Office of Faculty Affairs website 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 or NSF 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: A Google Scholar Profile provides a simple way for an author to keep track of citations to their articles.  See this library resource guide on how to create a Google Scholar profile, add publications, and discover your h-index.
• Scopus: Scopus is the largest indexing and abstracting database of peer-reviewed scientific literature. An author profile is created automatically when two or more articles are linked to one name. Scopus gets daily updates to its content from thousands of publishers, which it uses to generate new author profiles and update existing ones. Use the free Scopus Author Feedback Wizard to review your profile and submit feedback, including the ability to set a preferred name, merge profiles, add and remove documents, and update your affiliation (you must first create a Scopus account). See also this library resource guide on how to use Scopus to search for an author and identify an author's h-index.

Other media platforms for increasing the presence of your research:

• LinkedIn
• Mendeley
• Web of Science
• Social Media (X (formerly known as Twitter), Instagram, Facebook, etc.)
• Repositories (Figshare, Slideshare, etc.)
• Collaborative writing platforms (Medium, Authorea, the Conversation)
• Scholarly Collaboration Networks (Doximity, ScienceOpen, ResearchGate)
  • Note: ResearchGate is a research social networking site but is not an open access repository which supports long-term preservation and dissemination of your scholarly work.

• Select the profile platforms that are most strategic for you and ensure they remain up to date
• 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
• Link your ORCID record with Datacite, Crossref and Publons to ensure automatic updates to your record as you publish
• Work incrementally, but consistently on your online identity
• Set alerts in systems that offer them
• Stay alert for updates to existing systems

Contact one of the librarians listed on this page or check out platform-specific help:

• Google Scholar Profiles
• ORCID Help Center
• SciENcv help manual, from NCBI
• Scopus Author Profiles tip sheet and contact Scopus via email
• UMass Profiles - contact UMass Chan IT