Mandating the use of open researcher and contributor id (ORCID) by submitting authors

ORCID provides a unique identifier for all researchers that can be linked to their different research works and activities across multiple platforms. It also serves to distinguish authors with similar names and simplify searching of publications databases (suchas PubMed, Scopus, etc.) to avoid retrieving articles by authors with similar names. Close to 1.8 million researchers have already created their ORCID iD. The service is non-profit and community driven.

From 1 April 2017, we will require the submitting author to provide an ORCID identifier as part of the manuscript submission process. Details of the practicalities will be provided shortly, but don’t worry, it takes less than a minute to register for an ORCID iD and it’s free of charge. A recent survey carried out by ORCID indicates strong support in the research community for mandates by publishers, funders, and universities.

How Skyfox Uses ORCID IDs

For more than two years, SKYFOXhas made it possible for authors, editors and reviewers to register and login to our manuscript submission system with an ORCID.  Starting this month, we will send those iDs associated with authors of newly-published papers through to Crossref in our metadata deposits.  Crossref, in turn,will communicate that information to ORCID, where if the author has agreed to allow for updates, their ORCID profile will be enhanced to include their new publication. This auto-update function makes it possible for authors to maintain their records going forward without touching them!

Read more here.

Benefits of creating an ORCID iD

1.It’s a time saver

ORCID provides a unique digital identifier, which distinguishes you from other researchers with similar names and also brings together any variant spellings of your name. It supports authentication across multiple journals, search engines and services, allowing you a single sign-on.

Up to now, each time you apply for a new grant, or register for a service (such as Research Gate), you have had to re-enter all the same information in each system. Not only is this time-consuming, it also allows scope for errors. Once you have created an ORCID identifier and connected it with your publications, grants, and affiliations,your details will automatically be entered when using any compatible system.

2.It provides cross-platform compatibility

More and more systems are building in ORCID support, which means you can now easily connect your ORCID iD to your existing publications via interfaces with systems such as Crossref,Europe PMC, or Scopus. Furthermore publishers’ systems are now able to automatically update your ORCID record as you publish each new article, saving you the trouble of updating it manually. A number of systems, including university profiles, library repositories, funder reporting, pull data from ORCID, meaning you will spend less time manually updating in these as well.

3.Your privacy is protected

When you sign up for an ORCID iD you retain complete control and can set privacy settings on information in your record. For example, you can make some or all of your research works public whilst keeping other information (such as email addresses) private. You control which organizations have access to your record and which can add information.

Looking Ahead

SKYFOX is committed to providing new tools and services that help accelerate the pace and transparency of scientific research. We plan to continue collaborating with publishers,institutions and others that are practicing or want to establish ways to make publishing science faster, improve the author experience, and advance standards for reporting and reproducing research. As we move forward, we will continue to update our authors, contributors and community on our progress. Thank you for your continued support as we work on improving how authors and contributors receive credit for their research. Publishers wishing to commit to requiring ORCID iDs during their publication process can click here to sign the open letter from ORCID.

Katharine de Bergman

Director of Publishing Services

Skyfox Publishing Group