Over 1.2 million researchers worldwide have signed up to ORCID…but what is it? First, let’s look at what ‘ORCID’ stands for – Open Researcher and Contributor ID.  As an individual you can register with ORCID and receive a unique ID number. Your name, and non-sensitive data appear on the ORCID Registry and you can adjust the Data Privacy settings yourself. Your unique ORCID number easily identifies your work from that of other researchers with a similar name, or in some cases identical name. Organisations can also register with ORCID.

This is a brief summary of ORCID, please go to the ORCID website for full information.

Increasingly an ORCID identifier is becoming an essential requirement when submitting a grant application. From August 2015 all lead applicants must have an ORCID identifier when applying for a grant from the Wellcome Trust.