Keeping track of who wrote what in academic research can be surprisingly tricky.
Imagine trying to find all the papers written by "Ben Hall" – you'd probably find works by many different Ben Hall's! This is where author identifiers come in.
Think of an author identifier as a digital fingerprint for researchers. Just like your social security number uniquely identifies you, these IDs help distinguish you from others who might share your name.
As of August 2023, about 45% of Marshall faculty had claimed either their ResearcherID or Scopus Author ID.
ORCID (Open Researcher and Contributor ID) has been recognized as the star player: https://orcid.org/
Key Players in the Author ID World:
- ORCID: The most versatile and widely-used system, with 14 million members
- Scopus Author ID: Run by Elsevier, specifically for their database
- ReseacherID (Publons Profile): Connected to Web of Science
- Google Scholar Profile: Linked to Google's academic search engine
Why ORCID Stands Out
ORCID has become the gold standard for several reasons:
- It's not tied to any specific publisher or country
- It works across different academic fields
- It's free and controlled by the researchers themselves
- It can connect with other identification systems
- It supports 37 different types of work
Real-World Impact
Without an author ID, your work could get mixed up with anyone worldwide. But with ORCID, you get a unique number that follows your entire career, making it easy for:
- Other researchers to find your work
- Publishers to correctly attribute your papers
- Funding organizations to track your research
- USC to showcase your work
ORCID iD will help you to establish clear ownership of your work in an era where AI-generated content (AIGC) is proliferating.
The Future of Academic Identity
Author IDs will become even more crucial in the future. They'll likely be integrated more deeply into:
- The publication process
- Research funding applications
- International collaboration
- Performance evaluation