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ORCID iDs: Other Identifiers

This guide is intended for Appalachian State University faculty, staff, and students who want to learn more about ORCID iDs and how they can be used to uniquely identify themselves in the research community.

The list below provides an overview of identifiers commonly found in bibliographic and scholarly communication contexts. Please note that this list is not exhaustive.

Creator and Contributor Identifiers
These identifiers are similar to ORCID and are used to distinguish researchers, authors, and creators.

  • ISNI (International Standard Name Identifier) - https://isni.org/

    • ISNI is global standard for identifying contributors to creative works such as writers, researchers, creatives, performers, musicians, journalists, inventors, publishers, filmmakers, and others, and may be used by libraries, publishers, and archives.

    • See ISO 27729:204

    • Example: Beyoncé's ISNI is 0000 0001 1491 4936.

  • VIAF (Virtual International Authority File) - https://viaf.org/

    • VIAF is a global authority file managed by the OCLC (Online Computer Library Center) that aggregates author name records from national libraries worldwide.

    • Example: Toni Morrison's VIAF is described at https://viaf.org/en/viaf/109406177

  • LCNAF (Library of Congress Name Authority File) - https://authorities.loc.gov/

    • LCNAFS are used for standardizing names in library catalogs and bibliographic records and help ensure that all works by the same author are correctly linked.

    • Example: Stephen King’s LCNAF is described at https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n79063767

  • Wikidata - https://www.wikidata.org/

    • Wikidata is a structured linked data knowledge base that assigns unique identifiers to people, places, and concepts and is often used for open science, Wikipedia citations, and linked research data.

    • Example: Marie Curie’s Wikidata ID is described at https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7186

RAiD (Research Activity ID)

RAiDs aim to connect to related research outputs, funders, researchers, and organizations, and to work alongside other persistent digital identifiers, such as ORCID (for researchers), DOI (for research outputs and publications), and ROR (for institutions).

ROR (Research Organization Registry)

ROR identifiers are persistent digital identifiers for research institutions (e.g., universities, research centers and organizations) that help track these institutions globally.

  • RORs may be used in grant applications, research funder databases, and academic publishing to correctly attribute affiliations.

  • More information can be found at https://ror.org/

  • Example: Appalachian State University’s ROR ID is https://ror.org/051m4vc48.

Work Identifiers 
These identifiers may represent a range of scholarly outputs.

  • DOI (Digital Object Identifier) - https://www.doi.org

    • DOIs are commonly used for scholarly outputs such as journal articles, books, datasets, and reports.

    • To learn more about DOIs, see this research guide.

  • Handle System - https://www.handle.net/

    • Similar to DOIs but used more broadly (e.g., repositories, digital archives)

  • arXiv ID - https://arxiv.org/

    • arXiv provides a unique identifier for scholarly outputs in disciplines such as physics, mathematics, computer science, quantitative biology, quantitative finance, statistics, electrical engineering and systems science, and economics.

    • arXiv is hosted by Cornell University.

  • ISBN (International Standard Book Number)

    • ISBNS are unique identifiers for books and other monographic publications.

    •  Format is a 13-digit number (previously 10 digits before 2007), e.g., 978-1-78330-708-1.

    • Helps libraries, bookstores, and publishers identify and track books and are used in cataloging systems

  • ISSN (International Standard Serial Number)

    • ISSNs are unique identifiers for serial publications (e.g., journals, magazines, newspapers, annual reports).

    • Format is an 8-digit number, e.g., 1234-5678.

    • Helps in cataloging and managing journal issues in libraries and databases

    • Used by publishers, repositories, and aggregators to track serials

 

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