Skip to Main Content

Scholarly Publishing Resources

Your name is key to establishing a unique public profile for publications and research activities throughout your research and academic career. 

But...

  • if you've ever published something under a different form of your name;
    • if you have changed your name (because of marriage, divorce, etc.);
      • if you have been affiliated with several organizations over your career;
        • or if your name is merely a more common one...

...there probably are several variations of your name associated with your publications and research activities.

An ORCID iD (Open Researcher and Contributor Identifier) is a unique and persistent digital identifier that distinguishes you from every other researcher and, through integration in key research workflows such as manuscript and grant submission, ORCID supports automated linkages between you and your professional activities ensuring that your work is recognized as yours.

And, registering for an ORCID iD is free!

Register for your ORCID iD using the instructions below.  Then be sure to use your ORCID iD when you submit articles for publication or when prompted by funders.

More reasons to use an ORCID iD...

Use your ORCID iD to further your academic profile-

  • By using your ORCID iD to link all your publications together, you will distinguish your work from the work of others with the same name (...it happens more than you realize!)

  • Your ORCID iD is YOURS! It is portable and remains yours no matter where your research and publishing may take you.

  • ORCID has robust visibility settings that allow you to control what information of yours is seen and by whom.

  • Many publishers and journal editors are using ORCID and may need you to submit your ORCID iD when you submit your manuscript.Research funders increasingly use/require ORCID as well.

  • You can download a BibTeX file with all of your publications bibliographic metadata that can then be imported into Zotero or another citation manager, or to add to your CV.

  • You can use your ORCID iD as a unique identifier to search databases and get only your works (PubMed is one example)

  • You can add your ORCID iD to sites like ResearchGate and Wikidata to ensure your work is properly linked to you.

  • ORCID includes an auto-update feature which can add new publications to your profile automatically (the Auto-updates ‘how-to’ section explains how to do this using CrossRef)

How to get an ORCID iD

How do I register for an ORCID?

  1. Go to ORCID to register and receive an iD.

    1. You will need to enter at least your first name (last name is optional)

    2. Enter your personal (non-Muhlenberg) email address as the ‘primary’ email- that will ensure that you never lose access to your ORCID account.

    3. Enter your Muhlenberg email address too, so you get updates!

  2. As part of your registration, you will also set your security and notification preferences as well as the ‘visibility’ of your information.

  3. Once you’ve received your ORCID iD, add your position title and affiliation to Muhlenberg to your ORCID record. (You can also add previous affiliations, or memberships to scholarly associations, etc.)

  4. Use "Account Settings" to manage your privacy preferences.

Please let us know when you’ve set up your ORCID iD so we can add it to your local author works and help you link to your publications.

How to link your publications

How do I add links to my publications?

  1. References can be added manually.   This involves manually adding complete citations for each work.

  2. Import your list of works using BibTeX, a cross-platform reference management format. (Note: Zotero can both import and export in the BibTex format, and is therefore inter-operable with ORCID!)

  3. Import your references from a source such as Scopus, Europe PMC, Dimensions, and/or CrossRef Metadata Search using the "Search and Link" wizard.

  4. Consider using "Auto-updates" to authorize CrossRef to automatically update your profile on an ongoing basis.  (NOTE: This only works if you submit your ORCID iD when you submit your manuscript.)

Contact Tom Christie at Trexler Library if you need assistance in adding your publications to your ORCID iD.

Tips for using ORCID

Tips for getting the most value from your ORCID iD:

  1. Make your works public. By setting the “Visibility settings” to Everyone, you maximize the potential for integration of your ORCID iD into other systems, and automatic updating of databases to attach your ORCID iD to your works.

  2. Add some personal information. Add a brief bio, education and/or employment history to your ORCID record, and make it public. This can help others distinguish you from people with the same name if they don't know your ORCID iD.

  3. Add name variants, if you have published under other names or variations of your name. Remember that some publishers only use first initials!

  4. Link your ORCID iD to other services, including ResearcherID, figshare, and your professional organizations. Or include it in your profile for these services. 

  5. Include your ORCID on conference posters. You can generate a QR code, if you like, right from your ORCID record page to direct people to your works.

  6. Consider including your ORCID iD on your webpage, in social media accounts, and in your email signature as well!

Here are six more things you can do now that you’ve got an ORCID iD!

ORCID's mission and values

ORCID’s mission and values (excerpted from their website, and documentation, 2024)

ORCID’s mission is to "enable transparent and trustworthy connections between researchers, their contributions, and their affiliations by providing a unique, persistent identifier for individuals to use as they engage in research, scholarship, and innovation activities."

"ORCID... is a global, not-for-profit organization" ...that provides a registry of unique identifiers for researchers and scholars that is open, non-proprietary, transparent, and mobile. ORCID invites all researchers to participate without entry fees or maintenance costs.

ORCID recognizes that first and foremost, individuals own their record.  A central principle of the ORCID initiative is that researchers control the defined privacy settings of their own ORCID record data. Individual record holders can control what information is displayed publicly, what is shared with trusted partners, and who those trusted partners are.