Starting in May 2025, all senior and key personnel on an NIH grant must have an ORCID linked to their eRA Commons profile. Many publishing groups including Springer Nature, Science Journals, PLoS, and EMBO Press also require ORCIDs when submitting a manuscript. If you don’t already have one, setting up your ORCID now, as opposed to in the midst of a stressful grant application or paper submission, is worthwhile.

What is an ORCID?

ORCID (Open Researcher and Contributor Identifier) is a free, 16-digit number that uniquely identifies researchers and their work. It also refers to the organization that creates ORCIDs, which is a global nonprofit. The purpose of an ORCID is to provide a method that ensures scientists and other researchers are uniquely identified and connected to their contributions across disciplines, borders, and time. An ORCID distinguishes different researchers with the same name, and remains unchanged if a researcher changes their name.

How do I get an ORCID?

You register for an ORCID on the ORCID website. Registration provides you with both your 16 digit ORCID and an ORCID record. A researcher’s ORCID record is a place to track appointments, publications, grants, and other forms of research output.

How does this help me?

At first glance ORCID seems like yet another website to upload the same data, much like your university profile page, or your profile on Nature publishing. However, most of the organizations requiring ORCIDs have the capacity to import your data from your ORCID once you link your ORCID account to their systems. This means that your publication list, your educational background, and other components of your ORCID will auto populate on multiple systems. If you publish a new paper, you simply include it in your ORCID record, and when you refresh the link between that and any external associated site, your updated paper list will transfer automatically. This decreases both administrative burden and the likelihood that something will be missed or added twice.