ORCID auto-update launch a 'game changer'

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ORCID, the non-profit organisation that is working to address the name ambiguity problem in scholarly communications by providing a registry of persistent identifiers for researchers, has announced the launch of Auto-Update functionality, in collaboration with Crossref and DataCite.

Now, ORCID registrants who use their unique ORCID identifier (iD) when submitting a manuscript or dataset can opt to have their ORCID record automatically updated when their work is made public.

In addition, other systems that have integrated the ORCID APIs and connected a researcher’s ORCID record – their faculty profile system, library repository, webpage, funder reporting system – can also choose to receive alerts from ORCID, allowing research information to move easily and unambiguously across multiple systems.

Crossref and DataCite, also non-profit organisations, are leaders in registering DOIs (digital object identifiers – a unique alphanumeric string assigned to a digital object) for research publications and datasets.  Each DOI is associated with a set metadata and a URL pointer to the full text, so that it uniquely identifies the content item and provides a persistent link to its location on the internet.

Between them, Crossref and DataCite have already received almost a half a million works from publishers and data centres that include an ORCID iD validated by the author/contributor. With Auto-Update functionality in place, provided the researcher includes her/his ORCID iD at submission, information about these works can transit (with the researcher’s permission) to her/his ORCID record.

ORCID executive director Laure Haak, warmly welcomed this new development: 'Auto-update’s benefit to scholarly communications is something that publishers, librarians, funders, and researchers can all agree on: it is a game changer.'

Ed Pentz, executive director of Crossref, agreed: 'This integration with ORCID and our ongoing collaboration with DataCite aims to build on existing infrastructure, tying systems together to save time for researchers. We have a drive to encourage even more publishers to deposit ORCID iDs with us and would like to invite people to a webinar to learn more.'

And Patricia Cruse, executive director of DataCite, added: 'We all share the goal of “good science” and making it easier for researchers to share their work is a big part of that goal.  By ORCID, CrossRef and DataCite working together on Auto-update we are able to provide an easy way for researchers to further expose their work.'