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EnglishHow Is an ORCID iD Different from Other Researcher Identifiers?
Updated
An ORCID iD is a free, persistent identifier you own and control, issued by a non-profit organization rather than by a publisher or database. That ownership model is the main difference: Scopus IDs, ResearcherID (now part of Publons/Web of Science), and Google Scholar profiles all live inside a specific commercial platform, while an ORCID iD is designed to travel with you across systems. If you publish, apply for grants, or want your name variants consolidated in one place, an ORCID iD is the identifier most journals and funders expect you to supply.
The core distinction: who controls the identifier
| Identifier | Issued by | Tied to a platform? | Portable across systems? |
|---|---|---|---|
| ORCID iD | ORCID (non-profit) | No | Yes — used by journals, funders, repositories |
| Scopus Author ID | Elsevier | Yes (Scopus) | Limited |
| ResearcherID | Clarivate (Web of Science) | Yes | Limited |
| Google Scholar profile | Yes | No |
An ORCID iD is not owned by any single publisher. You register it yourself, and you decide what connects to it. The others are typically assigned or created within a database, and their usefulness depends on that database's coverage.
Why portability matters in practice
Because ORCID is platform-independent, it can act as a hub. A single ORCID iD can link out to your Scopus Author ID, ResearcherID, and other external identifiers, so a reader or system starting from ORCID can find the rest. This is the interoperability point: journals, funders, and institutional repositories increasingly ask for an ORCID iD at submission or reporting time, and they can authenticate it rather than re-keying your data.
By contrast, a Scopus Author ID only resolves inside Scopus, and a Google Scholar profile only exists on Google. Neither is intended to be the shared identifier a funder uses to disambiguate you across grant systems.
How to decide whether you need one
- Register an ORCID iD if you submit to journals or funders that request it, you have a common name, your name has changed, or you want one stable ID linking your outputs across platforms.
- You may not need one immediately if you only read literature and never publish, apply for funding, or deposit work in a repository.
- Keep your other IDs anyway. ORCID complements Scopus IDs, ResearcherID, and Scholar profiles rather than replacing them; link them from your ORCID record so each remains discoverable.
Practical notes
Registration and use of an ORCID iD are free, and the identifier is yours to maintain. The main task after registering is keeping the record accurate: add works, confirm affiliations, and connect external identifiers so the hub function actually works. Note that the ORCID site requires JavaScript to function, so enable it if the application does not load.