ORCID

ORCID stands for Open Researcher and Contributor ID. It is a sixteen-digit permanent digital identifier that disambiguates authors with the same or similar names. It allows linking publications and other contributions to a single person, avoiding confusion caused by similar or identical names, arbitrary use of middle initials, changes to names when people get married, and change of workplace. The database of identifiers is maintained by a not-for-profit international organization, ORCID.org. It a universal identifier, personal to you, and not tied to any institution or database.

As part of the campus rollout of Opus, the new system for academic review, all UCLA academic staff are encouraged to link ORCIDs to University IDs (UIDs). The Library is assisting the Opus project team by providing this linkage (see below).

The long term goal is that you will never have to sift through a long list of irrelevant publications again due to names that are similar to yours because all author searches will use your unique ORCID iD, not a name, or multiple versions of names you might have used. Author searches using ORCID's will be much more precise than traditional name based searches.

Preparing your dossier will become much easier because it will not matter if you have sometimes dropped your middle initial from your publications or if you have changed your name. Your identifier will be on all your research outputs. UCLA will soon transition to Opus, an electronic academic review and promotion system. Linking ORCID to your University ID will make it easier for systems like the UC Publication Management System to build lists of all your publications. You can read more about the UC Publication Management System here. 

Go to the UCLA Library's ORCID link app and log in with your UCLA logon. Click on the "Create or Connect your ORCID ID" button. Leave the box entitled “Allow this permission until I revoke it” selected. You will have an option to register for an ORCID if you do not have one or to connect an existing ORCID to your UID.

Don't have an ORCID?

If you are registering for a new ORCID, after you submit the form, you will receive a verification email from orcid.org. Follow the link within the email to verify the registered address. Your new ORCID and your UID will be linked.

Already have an ORCID?

You can link your ORCID to your University ID yourself. Click on the “Sign in” link. Log into your ORCID account using either your ORCID or your e-mail and your password and then click on “Authorize”. Your ORCID will be linked to your UCLA University ID, and a thank-you message will be displayed.

Not sure if you already have an ORCID or can't remember how to login?

You can test whether you have registered for ORCID previously. Click on the "Sign in” link. Clicking on “Forgotten password?” will generate a search box allowing you to test email addresses (one at a time) that you have used since 2010, the year ORCID was established. If one of the email addresses has been used, you will get a message with a link to sign in. Then, login according to the instructions above.

Make sure your ORCID record is public

Information marked as Public or Everyone can be viewed by anyone who comes to the ORCID.org website or accessed by anyone using the ORCID public API, which is what UCLA's Opus uses. Data marked as public will also be included in the public data file posted annually by ORCID. Your record needs to be public in order to link it to your University ID. The green icon below denotes that the ORCID profile is Public.