Discontinuity between journals' registration and submission requirements for Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID)

Abstract

Authorship is a core identifier of an academic paper, so there is interest not only in accurately listing authors' names, but ensuring that their identities are properly cited and indexed. One way to achieve this is by ensuring that they have a unique digital identifier, in addition to their publishing names. Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID) (https://orcid.org/) was launched in 2012, and among several of its indicated strengths, 1 one was its claim to act as a tool to accurately verify authors' identities. 2 Having an ORCID would also allow authors to be correctly matched to their published articles, 3 an important factor when considering authors who may have identical names, especially those that are culturally popular, for example, John Smith, and thus easy to confuse. The next phase of the 'globalization' of author identity archival, tracking and indexing involved implementing ORCID at the journal and publisher levels, and to fortify the base of adherents, -1 of 5