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ORCID launches to give researchers unique identity codes

Posted on behalf of Brendan Maher.

A registry that will grant researchers a unique identifying number — helping readers of the literature to distinguish between authors with similar names — launches today. ORCID, the Open Researcher and Contributor ID, is supported by funds and input from member institutions, publishers (including Nature Publishing Group) and scientific societies. It should integrate with existing researcher identification systems and make it easier for universities and funding agencies to track scientists’ output (see ‘Scientists: your number is up‘). Researchers can register at www.orcid.org and add information about their publications to their ORCID records.

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    Jim Woodgett said:

    An overdue initiative that helps to ascribe appropriate authorship. It’s especially useful if you’ve a common surname. The problem is that it isn’t the first attempt (e.g. ResearchID which ORCID supersedes) and will only be really useful if embraced by the majority. There are also the expected teething troubles with registration: many data fields are “coming soon”, password verification is buggy and publication import/verification is inaccurate and painful. But these will be sorted out. Hopefully, a tag for ORCID will be required for all publications as a means to promote uptake.

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