Scholar profiles and unique identifiers are tools that help researchers create public records of their work, distinguish their work from other researchers, and/or increase their visibility.
Related terms: author identifier, researcher ID, researcher profile, academic profile, portfolio
There are many examples of profiles and identifiers. The set of profiles and IDs that is most suitable for a researcher to maintain is often determined by their discipline, institution, and personal preferences. Tools can stand alone or be embedded into other systems or resources and they vary in how comprehensive they are. All differ in the amount of hands-on maintenance required, as some can be created or updated automatically while others must be initiated and generated manually. Some of the most popular profiles are listed below.
ORCID (Open Researcher and Contributor ID) provides researchers with free persistent identifiers and a public record of their professional activity. They are increasingly being used by funders, journal publishers, and institutions to differentiate individuals and track scholarship activities. ORCID can help alleviate issues with name ambiguity and variation and promote an individual's scholarly record.
Learn more and register at https://info.orcid.org/researchers/
Google Scholar provides a profile page that centralizes the work of a single author primarily from content discoverable through Google Scholar, such as journal articles and books. It provides impact metrics like number of citations and h-index, and it can help others find access to full-text copies of your research.
Learn more and set up at https://scholar.google.com/intl/en/scholar/citations.html
ResearcherID is a unique identifier used by Clarivate's Web of Science and Publons platforms. It integrates with ORCID and is also used by many journal publishers, particularly to track peer review contributions. Profiles are free and provide impact metrics like h-index, citation percentile, and author position. It is important to note that profiles are automatically generated and thus can have the status of being "claimed" by the author or being unclaimed/unverified.
Learn more and manage your profile at https://clarivate.com/products/scientific-and-academic-research/research-discovery-and-workflow-solutions/researcher-profiles/
Example: Clinton Aigbavboa Author Profile
Image by Settergren from Pixabay
