ORCID
acronymPronunciation: /ˈɔːrkɪd/
Also written as: ORCID — Open Researcher and Contributor ID
A persistent digital identifier that distinguishes individual researchers and connects them to their scholarly contributions and affiliations.
Full Definition
ORCID (Open Researcher and Contributor ID) provides a unique, persistent identifier for researchers that remains constant throughout their careers regardless of name changes, institutional moves, or field transitions. The 16-digit identifier helps solve the author disambiguation problem in scholarly publishing by clearly distinguishing between researchers with similar names. Researchers can link their ORCID to their publications, grants, peer review activities, and professional information, creating a comprehensive scholarly profile. Many publishers and funding agencies now require or encourage ORCID registration to improve the accuracy of attribution and reduce administrative burden in manuscript submission and grant applications.
Plain English
A special ID number that researchers get to make sure they get proper credit for their work and to avoid confusion with other researchers who might have similar names.
In Editorial Context
An author identification system that journals use to accurately attribute publications and streamline the submission process by automatically connecting authors to their publication histories.
Etymology & History
Launched in 2012 to address the persistent problem of author name ambiguity in scholarly publishing and research attribution.
Initially adopted slowly but has seen rapid growth since major publishers and funders began requiring ORCIDs for submissions.
Usage
"All corresponding authors must provide their ORCID during manuscript submission to ensure accurate attribution in the published article."
Usage note: Always written in capital letters as it is an acronym; the ID number itself is typically displayed with hyphens (e.g., 0000-0000-0000-0000).
Context: manuscript submission, author identification, scholarly publishing, research administration
Region: international
Also known as
Don't confuse with
Often confused with other author identification systems, but ORCID is the most widely adopted and persistent across platforms.