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IDC #US44453318
An IDC Infographic, sponsored by ORCID  |  November 2018 
What’s in a Name?
Most names are not unique 
Many people have 
the same name
People use diﬀerent versions of 
their name during their career  
For example, 
30% OF THE SCIENTISTS WHO GOT 
THEIR PhD IN THE UNITED 
KINGDOM NOW LIVE ELSEWHERE
Researchers are mobile!
Names may 
change through 
marriage or other 
circumstances
Individuals use diﬀerent alphabets, 
abbreviations, or naming conventions 
Research institutions and organizations therefore ﬁnd it hard to
Identify, track, and report on 
researchers’ aﬃliations and 
contributions (publications, peer 
reviews, grants, and more) 
Benchmark their organization 
against others
Institutions Face a Rising 
Tide of Research 
scholarly articles published per year
Source: The STM Report, October 2018
Source: Science Magazine
42,500 ACTIVE SCHOLARLY PEER- REVIEWED JOURNALS
Source: The STM Report, October 2018
Tackling Information Overload
ORCID is a non-proﬁt organization, which provides a fully open and interoperable
identiﬁer to reliably connect researchers with their research contributions. The 
ORCID iD is a 16-digit identiﬁer that researchers can register for and use for free.
Connects individuals and 
their professional 
contributions across 
disciplines, 
organizations, and time
Helps research institutions, funders, 
publishers, and other organizations 
better track and support research work 
Enables recognition of 
all types of research 
contributions and 
innovation 
How ORCID Works
It's a registry of unique persistent 
identiﬁers for researchers
It's a global community that enables 
researchers to share their data with other 
individuals, organizations, and systems  
It's a hub that connects researchers with their 
professional activities and contributions
Why Connect with ORCID? 
Hundreds of members and systems use ORCID globally
Connections to ORCID records
live ORCID iDs registered since its 2012 launch
Source: Orcid.org/statistics as of November 2018
Evidence of Institutional Value
Examples of time/staﬀ savings achieved by implementing ORCID from around the world
UK: 0.2 – 0.4 FTEs per institution1
Portugal: 100,000 researcher hours per year2
Australia: 15-30 minutes per grant application3
How Organizations and 
Researchers Beneﬁt
Save time and reduce errors 
with automated 
information-sharing and 
cross-system interoperability
Manage your organization 
name and your researchers' 
connections with it
Maintain links with your 
researchers - past, 
present, and future
Sponsored by ORCID
RESEARCHERSINSTITUTIONS
Spend more time doing 
research, less time managing it
Improve recognition and 
discoverability of their 
research
Control and manage a trusted 
and easily shareable record of 
their research activities and 
aﬃliations – for free
To learn more go to https://orcid.org
Three Ways to Get Involved
1.  Encourage and support your researchers in getting, sharing, and 
 using their ORCID iD 
2.  Invest in integrating ORCID into your systems
3.  Connect data to and from your researchers’ ORCID records to 
 support information use and reuse across organizations
The Value of Using Unique Identiﬁers for Researchers
OVER 3 MILLION
5.5 MILLION+
3.7 ORCID iDs created 
every minute
193 diﬀerent languages 
included in ORCID records
73.6% of records have 
granted update permissions
1.97 record updates 
made per second
1. Jisc/ARMA Institutional ORCID Implementation and Cost Beneﬁt Analysis Report 2015
2. Cátia Laranjeira, FCT - Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia 2017
3. Australian Research Council governance meeting, September 2018
"Having ORCID iDs for most of our researchers has helped in providing 
authoritative accounts in our various databases, ensuring accuracy in