What is ORCID?
Welcome to a New Opportunity–ORCID! The acronym ORCID stands for Open Researcher & Contributor IDentification. ORCID is an international, non-profit organization — sustained by fees from member organizations — that provides digital identifiers (termed an ORCID ID) for researchers.
An ORCID ID will provide a record of a researchers’ professional activities. ORCID IDs are free for individuals, and participating organizations (like UMBC) around the globe can collect and use the ORCID IDs of their affiliated researchers in research administration workflows. ORCID aims to increase and expand possible connections amongst a multitude of researchers, with the hope of developing and contributing–among other numerous merits and benefits– to potentially greater interdisciplinary cooperation and collaboration in research.
ORCID will provide a unique and personally distinct digital identifier (an ORCID ID) that you own and control (you will keep this ID even if you opt to leave UMBC). You will then be able to connect that ID with your own professional information (i.e., publications, professional affiliations, past/current/pending grants, peer review, etc.). The ID can be used to share your information with other systems, which can be particularly useful when completing required administrative information on grant proposals for a variety of extramural sponsors.
ORCID at UMBC
In March 2021, UMBC became a member of ORCID! The Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) highly encourages all Principal Investigators (PIs) and Research Administrators to learn about and actively engage in ORCID at UMBC. ORCID can provide for a greater and more accurate reflection of a researcher’s career portfolio that can be actively utilized to complete mandatory grant proposal forms and documentation.
Having this essential information in one central location should alleviate some of the administrative burdens (and potential errors) in data collection for each proposal and report, thus increasing the efficiency and timeliness in submitting some of the information for proposal review and submission. Participation in ORCID by UMBC personnel will also help to develop and firmly expand research knowledge and outreach throughout the UMBC campus as well as fostering further relationships and connectivity throughout the University System of Maryland as well.
ORCID and Digital Persistent Identifiers
“A digital identifier that is globally unique, persistent, machine resolvable and processable, and has an associated metadata schema.” {Definition From: NATIONAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COUNCIL GUIDANCE FOR IMPLEMENTING NATIONAL SECURITY PRESIDENTIAL MEMORANDUM 33 (NSPM-33) ON NATIONAL SECURITY STRATEGY FOR UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT-SUPPORTED RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/010422-NSPM-33-Implementation-Guidance.pdf)
In August 2022, the White House Office of Science & Technology Policy published the Public Access Policy memo which stated that by the end of Calendar Year 2025, all Federal Funding Agencies must require Grantees to obtain and supply a Digital Persistent Identifier, which follows and is in compliance with the NSPM-33 Implementation Guidance that was first published in January 2022. ORCID IDs are, thus far, the only current digital persistent identifiers that meet all of the criteria and federal requirements as provided for and established in that Guidance document.
Link to General Information on ORCID and DPIs: https://info.orcid.org/documentation/integration-guide/orcid-and-persistent-identifiers/
Federal Agencies that Require ORCID and Digital Persistent Identifiers
As of December 2024, the following Federal Agencies require the utilization of ORCID as a digital persistent identifier when proposals/applications are submitted to their respective Agency for possible, prospective funding. It should be noted that having a digital persistent identifier like ORCID may also be required for the submission of progress reports as well.
- National Science Foundation (NSF): Required as of Fall 2023
- National Institutes of Health (NIH): Required as of 2020 (https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-19-109.html)
- Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): Required as of 2020
- Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ): Required as of 2020
- Department of Energy (DOE): Required as of June 2023
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration -ONLY Science Mission Directorate (NASA SMD): Required as of 2022
While these are currently the only agencies that mandate the use of a digital persistent identifier, it is anticipated and expected that most federal agencies will adopt a similar requirement in the near future. All other federal agencies are expected to follow suit by the end of 2027 as per the 2022 Office of Science and Technology Policy Public Access Memo requiring all federal funders to obtain a unique digital persistent identifier that meets the common/core standards of a digital persistent identifier service defined in the NSPM-33 Implementation Guidance—which ORCID IDs do.
ORCID: ESSENTIAL DIRECT LINKS:
Instructions for Setting Up your ORCID ID Record/Profile at UMBC:
https://library.umbc.edu/orcid.php
OSP Guidance on SciENcv, ORVID, & NSPM-33
Guidance: SciENcv, ORCID, & NSPM-33-2023
For more UMBC information regarding ORCID, including sample ORCID profiles, please click on the following:
https://lib.guides.umbc.edu/c.php?g=1047837
What Is ORCID? (VIDEO)
https://lib.guides.umbc.edu/c.php?g=1047837#s-lg-box-24151378
For a more general introduction to ORCID, please refer to the following link:
***REFERENCES/ATTRIBUTION: The information provided above, where applicable, was collected primarily from the following sources: 1) https://orcid.org/ and 2) https://lib.guides.umbc.edu/c.php?g=1047837***