Research Identifiers

Research identifiers are unique identifiers used to link authors to their outputs. Platforms that provide researcher identifiers will often provide a researcher profile that lists affiliations and other useful information alongside all linked research outputs. 

Researcher IDs can: 

  • ensure authors receive credit for their work by eliminating confusion with other researchers with an identical or similar name
  • be used throughout a career as they are not tied to a particular institution or role
  • save time by enabling authors to import the information from their profile into other systems, such as journal and funder submission systems, etc.

Below are some examples of prominent researcher IDs and profiles. Please note that these are independent of the University and cannot be created or edited by the Open Access Team. 

ORCID 

An Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID) is a 16-character researcher identifier that links to an ORCID profile. For example: 

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6300-1033  

ORCIDs are: 

  • globally recognised 
  • independent of any other institution or service 
  • created and controlled by the researcher 

ORCIDs are easy to set up and can be linked to a Strathclyde Pure account, which then allows Pure to automatically populate an ORCID profile with outputs. The RKES SharePoint contains guidance on linking an ORCID to a Pure profile. 

Many research funders, such as the Wellcome Trust, require researchers to have an ORCID, and ORCIDs can be used to cut down time spent on funding applications. The University of Strathclyde encourages all its researchers to create an ORCID. 

Scopus

 
Scopus is a major research database that assigns researcher IDs and automatically creates an author profile displaying all the Scopus records by a particular author. Since Scopus IDs are automatically generated, they are not always accurate. Authors can use Scopus’ Author Feedback Wizard to request changes to their author profile and merge any duplicates. Scopus IDs can also be linked to an ORCID.

Clarivate ResearcherID 


Similar to a Scopus ID, a Clarivate ResearcherID is a unique individual ID automatically assigned to researchers within Web of Science database. Researchers can find their profile by searching for themselves or their research in Web of Science and click the ‘claim my record’ to start managing their own profile. A ResearcherID can be linked to an ORCID as well as Publons, which is a Clarivate service that tracks publications, citation metrics, peer reviews, and journal editing work.

Google Scholar Profile 


While a Google Scholar Profile does not come with a unique researcher ID, it can still be a useful way of collecting publications and tracking citations. Setting up and verifying a Google Scholar Profile allows authors to gather together research that has been indexed by Google Scholar under one profile.