ORCID: Open Researcher and Contributor ID: Home: ORCID Basics

ORCID (Persistent Digital Identifier) Requirements included in New Common Form Implementations by Federal Funding Agencies

The UNC Office of Research strongly recommends the use of ORCID ID to meet persistent identifier requirements being implemented by federal funding agencies to meet the new Common Form Requirements. NSF currently requires ORCID, NIH will require ORCID in 2025, and it works for other agencies as well. Register for an ORCID iD and connect your ORCID to UNC via the UNC ORCID Portal.

For details on how the OSTP National Science and Technology Council Research SubCommittee's framework for implementing National Security Presidential Memo-33 will impact Current and Pending (Other) Support and Biographical Sketch documentation (also known as Common Forms) across federal funding agencies including NSF and NIH, visit this UNC Office of Sponsored Programs site - https://osp.unc.edu/proposal/other-support-and-biosketch/   

• ORCID (Open Research and Contributor ID) provides a persistent digital identifier (an ORCID iD) that distinguishes each researcher from all other researchers, especially individuals with similar names.
• ORCID iDs are used in research workflows, like manuscript and grant submissions, to create links between people and their professional activities in an open and publicly visible way.
  • Requiring ORCID in Publication Workflows: An Open Letter
  • Research Funders and ORCID: New members, mandates, and platforms
• ORCID is the most universal when compared with other unique author ID systems (i.e., ResearcherID from Thomson-Reuters and Scopus Author Identifier from Elsevier). It has been integrated with many major publishers including Thomson-Reuters and Elsevier as well as in NIH's SciENcv biosketch tool.

Register for an ORCID iD and connect your new or existing ORCID iD to your UNC ID (PID) at the UNC-Chapel Hill ORCID Creation and Connection Portal (UNC Portal). ORCID registration is free and takes less than a minute.

The UNC ORCID Portal will take you to the ORCID website to login to your ORCID account or create one if you do not have one. Here are the steps:

1. Log in to the UNC ORCID Portal with your Onyen (UNC 2-Step authentication required).
2. Select "Create or Connect your ORCID" button.
3. Login to your existing ORCID account OR Create one if you don't have one via these steps:
   • Fill in all the required fields on the form
   • Check the box next to “I’m not a robot”
   • Check the box to accept the terms and conditions
   • Click the “register” button at the bottom to submit the completed form
4. Authorize UNC-Chapel Hill as a Trusted Organization when prompted.

Once you have registered, your ORCID iD will look like “orcid.org/0000-0003-1079-1779.”

Once you have logged into your ORCID record, go to the "Works" section to start importing your works (see Import Works to ORCID below) and adding them to your record.

If you think you may already have an ORCID iD, but don't know the number or have multiple ORCID iDs please contact ORCID support.

Upon opening the ORCID homepage, click on the Sign In button in the top right hand corner.  

If you have never signed in before you have two options: a personal account or an institutional account.

It is recommended to create a Personal Account when you register for the first time.  This is to avoid getting locked out of your account if you lose access to your Institutional account once you graduate or leave UNC .  

You can then link your personal ORCID account to your UNC ONYEN account by clicking the Institutional account tab.  It will ask you for your affiliation and you can search for UNC-Chapel Hill.  Once you login to ORCID with your ONYEN and password it will prompt you to link your personal ORCID account to your institutional account.    NOTE: this linking step is separate and unrelated to the linking of your ORCID iD and your UNC ID (PID) that you complete at the UNC-Chapel Hill ORCID Creation and Connection Portal.

In your ORCID record in the Works section, you have five options to add your works "Search & link," "Add DOI," "Add PubMed ID," "Import BibTeX," and "Add manually". 

Search & Link

This best practice method allows you to add works by directly importing links to your publications and other works to your ORCID record from other database systems. This is the recommended process because it reduces or eliminates errors, allows for the addition of contributor information with works, and enables a reliable connection between your ORCID iD and your works. 

Select a preferred tool to start. If you are not sure which tool to select, try linking to CrossRef, Europe PubMed Central, and Scopus; all of these sources cover journals from a broad range of disciplines and are likely to cover many of the journals you publish in. For key details, see the ORCID Support page on how to Add works by direct import from other systems.

For all methods, select "Add" in the works bar and then "Search & Link".

Crossref Metadata Search

Crossref contains persistent links to over 70 million scholarly journal and conference proceeding articles and books and book chapters. 

In order to connect your ORCID account with Crossref:

1. Select "Crossref Metadata Search" from the available Search & Link Wizards
2. Select "Authorize Access" to allow Crossref to access and add works to your ORCID account
3. Search for your name (and alternative names if applicable) in Crossref
4. Select "Add to ORCID" to add works to your ORCID account
5. Select "Yes" to confirm that you want to add the work to your account

Europe PubMed Central

Europe PubMed Central allows you to add works indexed in PubMed Central, including articles and patents. 

In order to connect your ORCID account with Europe PubMed Central:

1. Select "Europe PubMed Central" from the available Search & Link Wizards
2. Select "Authorize Access" to allow Europe PubMed Central to access and add works to your ORCID account
3. Accept the Europe PubMed Central Privacy Policy
4. On the left side of the screen, select "Author Profile" and then "Claim articles"
5. Select the check box next to the articles that you want to add to your ORCID account
6. Select "Continue" on the bottom of the page
7. Review the selected publications, then select "Send to ORCID" to add the works to your account

Scopus - Elsevier

Socus - Elsevier allows you to connect your identifier from the Scopus database, and add any articles in the Scopus database to your ORCID account.

In order to connect your ORCID account with Scopus:

1. Select "Scopus - Elsevier" from the available Search & Link Wizards
2. Select "Authorize Access" to allow Scopus to access and add works to your ORCID account
3. Select the checkbox next to the profile(s) that are associated with your publications. If you have published under more than one name, you may have multiple profiles. Select "Next"
4. If you have more than one profile, select the profile name that you would like to be associated with your account, then select "Next"
5. Review the publications to ensure that they are articles by you. If any of the articles are not your articles, select the "X" mark to remove those publications, then select "Next"
6. Review the profile to ensure your name and publications are correct, then select "Next"
7. Enter your email associated with your ORCID account to send your Scopus profile to ORCID, then select "Send Author ID"
8. If you also want to send your publications to ORCID, select "Send my publication list"

Add DOI

Alternatively, you can add individual articles using their DOI. Simply select "Add DOI" and paste the article's DOI into the search bar. "Retreive work details from DOI" and review the imported information about the work. For more information, see this ORCID Support page on how to Add works using an indentifier.

Add PubMed ID

You can add individual articles using their PubMed ID. Simply select "Add PubMed ID" and paste the article's PubMed ID into the search bar. "Retreive work details from PubMed" and review the imported information about the work. For more information, see this ORCID Support page on how to Add works using an indentifier.

Import BibTeX

If you choose to import your works from a citation management tool, please make sure to export your works from the reference management software in BibTex format. BibTex is supported by most citation management software, including EndNote, Refworks, Mendeley, and Zetero. Check the citation manager comparison guide for more information about citation management software.

BibTeX import can be a helpful option, however ORCID strongly recommends that you use the works Search & Link wizards to import works, rather than relying on BibTeX file import due to the error reduction, completeness, and reliability that the Search & link method provides.

How to import your works to ORCID from your preferred reference management tools:

• Export your works in BibTex format from your preferred reference management tool and save it on your computer
• Log into your ORCID record and import the saved BibTex file by choosing the "Import BibTex" option
• If you have questions see ORCID Support information on Importing works from a BibTeX file.

For details of exporting instructions for reference management tools, please check the following links:

• Refworks
• EndNote
• Mendeley
• Zotero

For more information, see this ORCID Support page on Importing works from a BibTeX file.

Add Manually

It is best practice to use the Search & link wizard method to enable authorized ORCID partner organizations to add your works to your ORCID record whenever possible so that the information is accurate, validated and complete.  If there are cases where you need to add works to your ORCID record manually, choose the "Add manually" option and follow the instructions on the ORCID webpage. For more information, see this ORCID Support page on how to Add works manually.

In your ORCID record, there are two ways to add funding: "Search & link," and "Add manually". For more information for how to add funding information, see the ORCID page on how to Add funding information to your ORCID record.

You can also set up "Trusted Organizations" to be able to automatically update your funding information. When you are submitting a grant, look for the ORCID icon, and allow the organization to auto-update your funding with the grant information.

Search & Link

You can import funding from Dimensions using the Search & Link function.

1. Select "Add" in the Funding bar and then "Search & link"
2. Select "DimensionsWizard"
3. Select "Authorize Access" to allow Dimensions to access and add works to your ORCID account
4. Search for the grants you have received, either using "Find by name" or "Find by grant title"
5. Verify the grants you have selected and submit them to ORCID

Add Manually

If you cannot find your grants in Dimensions, you can add funding manually.

1. Select "Add" in the Funding bar and then "Add manually"
2. Manually input information about the funding source
3. Each record should be associated with one funding source

If you already have your citations listed in Google Scholar, you can easily upload those citations to ORCID. 

1. Export your article citations from Google Scholar.

If you want to export a single citation, you can search for your article in Google Scholar and click on the quotation mark icon below the citation. A small window will pop up displaying several citation examples. Click "BibTeX" at the bottom of this window. 

If you want to export several articles, navigate to your Google Scholar Profile page and select My library from the Google Scholar menu in the top left of the page.  Hover over "Export all" at the top of the page and click "BibTeX."

2. Save the citations as a plain text file. 

Google Scholar will automatically redirect to a page of plain text. Right click on this screen and click "Save As." Enter a name for your file. Keep the file type as "Text Document." If you are exporting several citations, they will appear as a list on this page. All of your citations can be saved as one file. 

3. Navigate to your ORCID page and import your BibTeX file. 

Scroll to the bottom of your screen to the tab titled "Works." Hover over the button "+Add Works" and click "Import BibTeX" from the small drop-down menu. 

Click "Choose File." Find the plain text file you downloaded from Google Scholar and open this file. 

4. Save your citations. 

Your citation should appear on your screen. If you imported multiple citations into ORCID, they should appear as separate citations. Make sure to save your citations or they will be deleted and you will have to import them again. You can save a single citation by clicking the Save icon on the right. You can save multiple citations by clicking "Save All" at the top of the list. 

5. Manually edit your citations if necessary. 

If you want to edit any of your citations, this can be done manually after you have imported and saved them into ORCID. Click the small pencil icon at the bottom right of a citation to edit it. You can also edit multiple citations at once by clicking "Bulk Edit" at the top of the list. 

For more information on ORCID, please check out the resources linked below:

Contact the UNC ORCID Team with any questions or issues that you may have.