Major chemistry publishers join Orcid ID push

The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) and the American Chemical Society have signed up to Orcid’s scheme that requires researchers submitting to their journals to provide a unique ID number.

The not for profit organisation Orcid creates a passport-like unique identity that pulls together a researcher’s publications, datasets and patents along with information on their work history. Many researchers already use Orcid and the system is becoming increasingly popular among publishers. Last year, the Royal Society made it compulsory for authors submitting to their journals to provide an Orcid ID, and some funders have made it a requirement for researchers applying for grants.

Emma Wilson, the RSC’s director of publishing, said: ‘Orcid can and will make a huge difference to our authors’ ability to gain full credit for their work […] A unified system that integrates and links research-related information with accurate and timely linkage to the publishing output of authors has the potential to simplify and speed up their grant applications.’