As a researcher, it can be difficult to distinguish your work from other scientists, as names are not unique. ORCID (Open Researcher and Contributor iD) provides a unique, persistent identifier for researchers that helps distinguish your research activities and outputs from those of other researchers with similar names to ensure you get credit for your work. It aims to connect researchers with all their research outputs, including publications, grants and datasets.

ORCID is a non-profit organisation supported by a global community of organisations including universities, publishers, funders, professional associations, and other stakeholders in the research ecosystem. Together, this global community has turned ORCID into a tool that links the many available author ID numbers under a single identifier and allows researcher data to be shared between systems. This persistent digital identifier acts like a DOI (Digital Object Identifier) for researchers that can be used to link all of an individual's research outputs and feed them to other research systems.

What are the main advantages?

  • Using ORCID enhances the findability and the visibility of your publications and your research data. Systems such as Scopus and Web of Science offer their users the possibility to search on the basis of ORCID identifiers. Research results which are associated with an ORCID can be found more effectively in such bibliographic databases.
  • As a global system, ORCID is not linked to one university in particular, and this means that you can easily take all the information associated with ORCID with you when you accept a position at a different university. Information about your new publications can be added automatically to your ORCID profile, by making use of the auto-update functionality.
  • You have complete control over the visibility settings of all of your information, as explained in the ORCID privacy policy

You can get and start using your ORCID in 4 easy steps:

  1. Register – quick, easy and free online registration on https://orcid.org/register
  2. Connect – Link all other author IDs in your ORCID record
  3. Add – save your ID in your profile information in Pure https://pure.tue.nl
  4. Include – your ORCID when you submit publications or apply for funding

Importantly, you always retain full control over your own ORCID id. You need to request your own ORCID at the ORCID website, and you are also responsible for the information that is associated with this identifier. You can easily indicate which information can be made public, and which information needs to remain private. Read more at: https://orcid.org/about/what-is-orcid/principles

For questions, please contact pure@tue.nl.