ORCID means "Open Researcher and Contributor ID" and is an internationally acknowledged ID for scientists and researchers, which distinctly matches publications and research results with a person - for a distinct reference to authors is not possible only by names.

In addition to the ID an ORCID profile can match a person's name (in all variations), the institutional affiliation, the professional career and the research results and publications. The scientist decides what kind of information gets visible.

With your own ORCID profile

• you have a unique ID that prevents misallocations – even in the case of name variations, name changes or different spellings,

• the visibility of your research increases, as all your publications are grouped together under your ORCID ID, even if, for example, they are not listed in international databases,

• you can take your list of publications with you wherever you go and update it seamlessly, as your ORICID profile is independent

• you will only need to provide your ORCID ID when communicating with publishers.
  There are already publishers that require their authors to provide an ORCID ID
  (read more here: https://orcid.org/content/requiring-orcid-publication-workflows-open-letter),

• you have full control: apart from your name and ORCID iD (both of which are always public), you can manage the visibility of all the information on your ORCID profile yourself. You decide which rights to grant to trusted organisations ("trusted parties") and can manage or revoke these at any time via "account settings" in your ORCID profile.

ORCID and data protection

The lawyers at iRights.law have prepared an expert report on behalf of the DFG on the data protection aspects of ORCID (the full report can be found here). In it, they state:

"Die datenschutzrechtliche Begutachtung von ORCID hat keine gravierenden Mängel feststellen kön­nen. Im Gegenteil, das System un­ter­stützt mit seinen Privacy-Funk­ti­o­na­li­tä­ten die Nutzerinnen und Nutzer bei der Ausübung ihres Rechts auf informationelle Selbstbestimmung und hat diesbezüglich stellenweise durchaus Vorbildcharakter. Durch die Konzipierung als Nutzerkontrolliertes Identitätsmanagementsystem kön­nen die Nutzer des Portals jederzeit einsehen und kontrollieren, wel­che Daten wie auf der Platt­form verarbeitet wer­den und wer, wann auf die Daten Zugriff hat." [...], Gutachten S. 49

More information about ORCID:

• ORCID Website
• Video: "What is ORCID?"
• UDE ORCID poster
• ORCID profile - an example

Open Access publications and ORCID:

openaccess.ub@uni-due.de

Dr. Eike Spielberg
+ 49 (0) 201 183 3689

University Clinic Essen
Katrin Wibker
+49 (0) 201 723 3330

Bibliography of UDE and ORCID:

bibliographie.ub@uni-due.de

Kerstin Ponten
+49 (0) 201 183 3728

Bibliometrics and ORCID:

bibliometrie.ub@uni-due.de

Dr. Felix Schmidt
+ 49 (0) 203 379 2034

Dr. Eike Spielberg
+49 (0) 201 183 3689

Research Data and ORCID:

rds.ub@uni-due.de

Dr. Stephanie Rehwald
+49 (0) 201 183 6513