A scientist often publishes hundreds of works over the course of their research career, so it is helpful to be able to maintain an overview and be clearly identified as the author of them all. The ORCID iD, a largely numerical code, makes this possible. Individuals can list their academic papers under this code and their copyright remains clear, even in the event of name changes or new jobs. This system is recommended at HHU. The Research Data Management (RDM) team and staff at the University and State Library would be pleased to support anyone interested in its practical application.
“In short, ORCID iDs enable the unique identification of a person – whatever spelling of their name is used, whether Müller, Muller or Mueller. ORCID iDs also eliminate any confusion about who has published what in the event that several people share the same name,” says Dr Christian Hohenfeld from the RDM team. “They ensure that a person’s publications are clearly identified as theirs.”
Use of this persistent digital identifier is becoming increasingly widespread internationally in the world of science. Many journals now offer the option of stating an ORCID iD and the HHU Publication Guideline explicitly recommends use of this system. The ORCID iD is not only useful for scientific papers, but also for data publications, software packages and all other cases where someone wishes to be uniquely identified as the author of a piece of work. The system is provided by a global non-profit organisation: There are no costs for anyone who uses the ORCID iDs.
How can entries be made?
Enter once, use repeatedly: An online collection of previous publications and other data is created; the iDs are usually stated with the corresponding link. In the best-case scenario, this enables readers of an article to find all other publications belonging to this person directly. They can be reliably transferred to archive systems and new publications can be added. An example.
Note: It also makes sense to include the iD into the email signature. A look at the corporate design portal (German only) reveals where it fits best.
More information (German only) and about ORCID