Open data & open science
Best practices for leveraging ORCID and other identifiers to connect researchers with datasets and outputs.
Effective use of persistent identifiers can unify researcher profiles, grant data, datasets, publications, and outputs, enabling transparent attribution, streamlined collaboration, and improved discoverability across disciplines and repositories.
August 07, 2025 - 3 min Read
Contemporary research ecosystems increasingly rely on persistent identifiers to bridge people, projects, and products. ORCID remains the most widely adopted researcher ID, but complementary schemes—such as DataCite DOIs for datasets, ROR IDs for institutions, and DOIs for software—create a richer, machine-readable map of scholarly activity. The practical value emerges when researchers synchronize their profiles with institutional systems, repository metadata, and publisher workflows. By embracing these identifiers, a scientist can ensure that authorship, contributions, and affiliations travel with the object associated to the work, minimizing misattribution and disconnections that hamper reproducibility. Adoption is supported by explicit guidance, clear integration points, and incentives from funders and journals.
To start, assemble a personal identifier kit: a verified ORCID iD, a handful of DOIs for representative datasets, and links to key software or code repositories. Next, map your outputs to standardized metadata schemas so that a workflow can automatically capture author roles, data availability statements, and licensing terms. Institutions can encourage researchers to connect their ORCID to their organizational accounts, while repositories can require ORCID authentication before submission. The resulting tapestry of identifiers helps collaborators discover relevant work, lowers the barrier to data reuse, and strengthens the traceability of research contributions across stages—from data collection to publication and reuse in downstream analyses.
Use identifiers to tie datasets, software, and outputs to scholars’ reputations.
The first layer of practice is consistent author attribution across all platforms. Researchers should register for an ORCID iD if they do not already possess one and keep their profile current with institutional affiliations and a curated list of outputs. Authors can claim datasets, software, and preprints by linking them to their ORCID, so that each item carries verifiable provenance. In addition to ORCID, registering with a research organization identifier (ROrG) or a funder ID can render grant information and project milestones more discoverable. The cumulative effect is a clear, portable footprint that travels with every scholarly artifact and makes scholarly identity legible to both humans and machines.
Beyond personal accounts, community-level strategies matter. Institutions should offer repositories that encourage ORCID linking at submission, while publishers integrate ORCID checks during manuscript intake. Crossref and DataCite messaging can facilitate automatic association between a researcher’s iD and the DOIs generated for articles and data. When researchers maintain consistent metadata, search engines and scholarly graphs can surface related items—methods papers, datasets, and code—together. This convergence supports reproducibility and accelerates discovery, as readers can follow a transparent trail from data origin to final outputs, including any subsequent derivative works and replications.
Interoperability and governance strengthen identifier ecosystems through shared standards.
A practical workflow begins with careful drafting of data availability statements and software licenses that clearly name the authors and their ORCID iDs. When depositing data or code, choose a persistent identifier and attach it to your ORCID record. Repositories should expose machine-readable metadata, so that downstream systems can harvest author IDs and link them to the corresponding items. Researchers also benefit from aligning their naming conventions with community standards—consistent file naming, versioning, and provenance notes reduce confusion and enable automated provenance tracking. Ultimately, these practices create a durable, navigable web of research objects that remains intelligible across platforms and over time.
Another critical facet is interoperability. Prefer open, standards-based metadata schemas and align with initiatives like schema.org, Dublin Core, and DataCite metadata. When possible, publish metadata in machine-readable formats and ensure that identifiers, licenses, and access conditions are machine-actionable. This enables search engines, data catalogs, and institutional repositories to index relationships among authors, datasets, and publications. Researchers should also participate in identifier-aware communities to share best practices, troubleshoot issues, and learn from evolving governance models. Interoperability reduces silos and catalyzes a more dynamic, interlinked scholarly landscape.
Datasets, software, and outputs form an integrated scholarly graph when properly identified.
In the realm of datasets, identifiers are not mere labels; they are access keys. Assign a DOI to each dataset whenever feasible, and ensure the DOI is resolvable to a landing page containing rich metadata, licensing, and usage terms. Link the dataset's DOI to the author’s ORCID and, where relevant, to the software and analyses that produced it. This cross-linking supports reproducible science by allowing others to trace the lineage of a dataset—from data collection through cleaning, processing, analysis, and interpretation. When researchers routinely attach identifiers to datasets, the path from data to discovery becomes explicit, enabling reuse, aggregation, and meta-analyses with greater confidence.
The software dimension deserves equal care. Researchers should publish code under open-source licenses and register the software with a persistent identifier, ideally with a versioned DOI or equivalent. Associate the software’s identifier with the author’s ORCID, the associated project, and the dataset(s) it processes. Clear documentation, including a minimal README and a citation file, improves citability and reuse. Encouraging containerized environments or environment specifications further enhances reproducibility. By connecting software with the broader research graph, communities can track methodological contributions and recognize technical labor alongside traditional results.
Education and incentives propel wide adoption of identifier-driven workflows.
Collaboration platforms can reinforce best practices by embedding identifier workflows into their core features. Researchers benefit when submission portals automatically request ORCID authentication, prompt for DOIs and licenses, and generate metadata suitable for harvesting. Institutions can incentivize compliance by recognizing data and software citations in performance reviews and tenure dossiers. Journals and funders play a catalytic role by requiring explicit data and software citation practices and by funding infrastructure that supports cross-identifier integration. The more I/O yards a system has for identifier data, the easier it becomes to connect people with the outputs they create, regardless of disciplinary boundaries.
Training and literacy are essential to scale adoption. Institutions should offer ongoing education on how to claim outputs, curate profiles, and maintain up-to-date metadata. Researchers benefit from practical templates, checklists, and example workflows that illustrate how to attach ORCID iDs to datasets, code, and reports. Communities can share case studies highlighting successful linkage strategies, measurable improvements in discoverability, and tangible rewards for transparent attribution. When researchers see concrete benefits—faster collaboration, higher visibility, and clearer authorship—they are more likely to invest time in thoughtful identifier practices.
The data governance layer matters as much as the technical layer. Institutions should safeguard privacy, ensure compliance with licensing terms, and maintain durable records of ownership and access rights. An efficient governance model includes age-appropriate retention of metadata and periodic reviews of identifier mappings to avoid decay. Researchers benefit from knowing how long a DOI or ORCID linkage will remain valid and what happens if affiliations change. Clear policies around data stewardship help protect the integrity of the scholarly record and prevent orphaned records that disrupt linkage networks.
Finally, the long arc of identifier ecosystems depends on sustained collaboration among researchers, librarians, IT staff, funders, and publishers. Alignment across these groups reduces friction and builds trust in the provenance of data and outputs. As adoption matures, higher-level benefits emerge: more accurate attribution, improved reproducibility, easier discovery, and a more vibrant research community where each contribution is visible, citable, and reusable. The enduring promise is a connected scholarly landscape where identifiers serve as reliable bridges between people and the myriad outputs of their inquiries.
