Researcher Profiles and Identifiers: ORCiD

What is ORCiD?

ORCiD (Open Researcher and Contributor Identifier) is a 16-digit number that uniquely and persistently identifies a scholarly researcher (for example,  http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9718-6515).

ORCiD is a not-for-profit organization, and its work is open, transparent, and non-proprietary. ORCiD adheres to principles of privacy and researcher control.

Virginia Tech researchers are encouraged to register for an ORCiD identifier (quick and free!) Here are a few reasons why:

• ensure that your work is discoverable and connected to you throughout your career, regardless of:
  • Name changes
  • Gender transitions
  • Affiliations
  • Name variations
• minimize the time you spend entering repetitive data, and;
• eliminate name ambiguity, distinguishing you from other researchers and ensuring proper attribution.

Funders (e.g., NSF, NIH) and journal publishers are increasingly requiring that researchers have an ORCiD, and many more encourage its use. Learn more about ORCiD.

How to Add Publications/Works to your ORCiD

For more details and screenshots, see these presentation slides (slides 40-69, link goes directly to slide 40). There are four basic steps to populating your ORCID works: connect to your Scopus Author Profile, choose one or more automatic import options, import a BibTeX file, and merge or delete duplicates.

Tip: If you have many publications and sources for importing (e.g., Scopus, Google Scholar), you can import from multiple locations first and then merge or delete duplicates (Step 4). 

Step 1: Connect your Scopus Author Profile to ORCiD

• When connected, all your publications listed in your Scopus Author Profile will populate your ORCiD.
• This will ensure that when you have new publications added to Scopus, they will automatically populate on your ORCiD. 
• If you don't have publications indexed in Scopus, you can skip this step for now.

Step 2: Automatically import works

• On your ORCiD, scroll down to Works and then look to the right and hover your mouse over +Add Works to see a few ways to add your publications to ORCiD:
  
• Search & Link 
  • Several data sources available, e.g., Airiti, Redalyc, EuropePMC, Crossref, etc.
    • Choose BASE to import metadata from VTechWorks
• Add an ArXiv ID, DOI, or PubMed ID
  • Simply copy/paste the identifier into the field, like this: 
    
    All the metadata will automatically import after you select "Retrieve work details."
• Import works from a BibTeX file
  • Download a BibTeX file of your works from your Google Scholar Profile or a preferred subject database
    • Be aware: Google Scholar (GS) usually has poor data quality and/or missing fields; Scopus Author Profile, Search & Link, and/or Add an ArXiv ID, DOI, or PubMed ID should be used first before importing a BibTeX file from GS unless it's the best or only available option to you (e.g., you have hundreds of publications, and it will take too long to add each individual DOI).
      • Tip: If you have many publications, you can import from multiple locations before merging or deleting duplicates (Step 4). 
    • See this presentation slide on how to complete this step via GS

Step 3: Manually add works in ORCiD

• Not recommended unless absolutely necessary due to data errors 
  • For example, if you need to add a nontraditional research output not found in any database or bibliographic data source
• Usually causes the most errors (e.g., typos) and missing fields
• Bonus tip: deposit your manuscripts in an Open Access (OA) repository, add the official published version via one of the auto-import options listed in step 2, and then edit the record and add the link to the OA manuscript, like this:
  
  This is how it will display on the record item, with both the publisher's DOI and the OA manuscript's identifier: 
  

Step 4: Delete or merge duplicates (if necessary)

• If you import scholarly works from multiple sources (e.g., Scopus, Google Scholar, DOIs), you may have duplicates.
• Rather than figuring out where the duplicates are and being selective about importing them, it is likely easier to import from all the sources and then delete or merge the duplicates.
• To delete, simply select the record with the lower quality metadata and then select Delete.
  
• To merge, select both records, and then select Combine.
  

How to Add your ORCID to your Elements Profile

• Video length: ~1 minute

Need more help? Send an email to orcid@vt.edu.

ORCID at Virginia Tech

Virginia Tech is a premium member of ORCiD.

ORCiD is integrated with Elements (EFARs) and the Virginia Tech Data Repository. To set up a sync of ORCiD with Elements, sign in to Elements and go to Menu (upper left corner) > Settings > Automatic Claiming.

Need help?  Send an email to orcid@vt.edu.

The University Libraries is currently working to integrate ORCiD with:

• VTechWorks
• Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)
• Open Access Subvention Fund

Use ORCID to Comply with National Security Presidential Memorandum (NSPM-33)

In August 2022, the ​White House Office of Science and Technical Policy (OSTP) released a new public access memo for federal agencies to make all federally funded research freely available. The memo also includes specific guidance on digital persistent identifiers (DPIs, also known as persistent identifiers (PIDs)) for researchers, as defined in the NSPM-33 Implementation Guidance.

Although ORCID is not mentioned specifically in the NSPM-33 guidance or the OSTP public access memo, ORCID is currently the only DPI option for individuals that meets the requirements stipulated in the NSPM-33 guidance. 

How to Update your ORCID to Comply with NSPM-33

If you are a researcher who receives funding from federal agencies, such as the National Science Foundation (NSF) and/or the National Institutes of Health (NIH), then you will need to ensure you have an ORCID iD and that you include the following on your ORCID record: 

• Biography
• Affiliation(s) (Employment)
• Funding
• Scholarly works / research outputs with the following information:
  • All author and co-author names
  • Digital Object Identifier (DOI) or other DPI for the research output
  • Date of publication
  • Note: if you do automatic importing, such as adding the work via the DOI, this data automatically imports. 
    

You will also need to ensure that the information on your ORCID (specifically the information listed above) is made publicly available.  By default, when you initially setup your ORCID record, it is set to private. Be sure to toggle your bio, funding, and scholarly works to public:

If there is sensitive information on your ORCID, you can always set individual items to private (such as grant/funding data). Visit the Visibility settings page from ORCID for more information.