Researcher Identifier: An Effective Tool for Managing Academic Profiles

Guide for authors
Posted on 16-06-2025

Why Researchers Should Have an Identifier

Researcher identifiers play a crucial role in building and managing each individual's academic profile:

  • Avoid information inaccuracies: Eliminates the risk of confusing publications or authors.
  • Ensure accurate credit: Guarantees precise recognition of academic contributions.
  • Increase visibility: Enhances the discoverability of research across various media, including social networks.
  • Citation management: Facilitates easy tracking and management of citations to one's work.
  • Impact analysis: Provides tools to assess the impact of scientific research.

Benefits for Research Organizations and Funding Agencies

Researcher identifiers are not only beneficial for individuals but also help organizations manage research activities more efficiently:

  • Work evaluation: Funding agencies can easily understand a researcher's past work and track outcomes after providing grants.
  • Track contributions: Research organizations and universities can monitor the contributions of their researchers.
  • Record management: Publishers can maintain author records and organize manuscripts effectively.

Currently, there are many popular researcher identifier management systems, including ORCID, Scopus Author ID, ResearcherID, Google Scholar ID, and ResearchGate.

ORCID (Open Researcher and Contributor ID)

ORCID (https://orcid.org/) is a non-profit organization that provides a unique digital identifier (16 digits) for researchers and scholars. This system is supported by a community of research institutions, academic organizations, professional associations, and other stakeholders.

Many scientific journals have integrated ORCID into their electronic publishing workflows, allowing automatic linking of articles to author profiles, ensuring accurate attribution and minimizing errors.

Scopus Author ID

Scopus Author ID (https://www.scopus.com/) is a proprietary author identifier, automatically assigned to any author publishing in journals indexed by the Scopus database.

This ID allows viewing information about research areas, publication lists, affiliations, co-authors, result analysis, and citation metrics (citation count, h-index, h-graph). Scopus Author ID can be linked with ORCID to synchronize information.

ResearcherID

ResearcherID (http://www.researcherid.com/) connects researchers with their publications within the Web of Science (WoS) ecosystem.

The Web of Science ResearcherID ensures accurate author identification, recognizes published works in the Web of Science database, tracks citations, identifies potential collaborators, and prevents errors. Information in ResearcherID can be linked with ORCID.

Google Scholar

Google Scholar Citations Profile (https://scholar.google.com/citations) is a Google service that allows researchers to create personal profiles on the Google Scholar platform.

This profile groups all citations to a researcher's publications, enabling effective tracking and management of research works and citations. The profile includes personal information, areas of interest, and research metrics (h-index, i10-index, and total citations).

When set to public, the Google Scholar profile allows other researchers, organizations, and funding agencies to view publications, metrics, and subscribe to updates when new articles are indexed by Google Scholar.

ResearchGate

ResearchGate (https://www.researchgate.net/) is a professional network for scientists and researchers, connecting scientists from around the world to share work, collaborate, and learn.

ResearchGate offers various features, including:

  • Profile creation: Share information about biography, works, projects, and achievements.
  • Networking: Expand connections with other researchers.
  • Work sharing: Upload and share research works.
  • Citation tracking: Manage citation information.
  • Literature search: Access a rich repository of research materials.

In addition to the systems mentioned above, many other platforms and fields also provide researcher identifiers. When registering, it is crucial to carefully review personal data to avoid issues related to citations, indexing, and the management of research portfolios. Using researcher identifiers is an important step to ensure transparency and accuracy in scientific activities.