Have you ever tried to look up a colleague’s publication on PubMed, and found hundreds of J Smiths? Or have you been cited in different forms by different publications?  Researchers, universities, and publishers have long sought a better way to identify and differentiate authors.

Enter ORCID (Open Researcher and Contributor ID).

What is ORCID?

ORCID is a recently launched unique identifier for scholarly authors and researchers. With over 800,000 individuals registered since its inception in 2012, its impact is growing quickly. Its benefits include:

• A Unique Identifier: This free identifier allows an individual to be linked with all of his/her publications, and to be distinguished from other researchers with similar names or initials. It can also be linked to grant applications and other professional activities.

• Seamless Integration: ORCID can be easily integrated with your profile on other platforms, such as ResearcherID, Scopus, or LinkedIn, providing one cloud-based location for all your information.

• Linkage of all Scholarly Activity: Pre-publication activities such as peer review, article submissions, and grant applications, as well as non-publication related activities can be linked with ORCID, giving journals, grant organizations, and researchers a more complete picture of your scholarly contributions to the field.

ORCID record of eAJKD’s Dr. Matt Sparks.

How can I sign up?

The registration process takes 30 seconds, at www.orcid.org. After receiving your ORCID, you can link it to other platforms and then use it when applying for grants, submitting articles for publication, etc.

Or, if you already have a Researcher ID or Scopus ID, use these links to connect them with an ORCID profile:

• How to link Researcher ID with ORCID

• How to link Scopus ID with ORCID

For further info check out: Impactstory’s post: 10 things you need to know about ORCID

Update: You can now sign in to our submission site with your ORCID credentials:

– Post by Elizabeth Frank, AJKD Features and Projects Editor.