Persistent identifiers

ORCID — for you

The ORCID iD is the persistent identifier for you as a researcher. Format: 0000-0002-XXXX-XXXX. Free to register. Now requested by virtually every major funder and publisher. Take 10 minutes today: orcid.org/register.

Once you have one, link it everywhere: every paper submission, every grant application, every CV. Your CRediT-tagged work flows automatically into your ORCID record when publishers deposit to Crossref with your ORCID iD.

ROR — for your institution

The Research Organization Registry is the persistent identifier for organisations. Replaces the older GRID identifier. Your institution likely has a ROR ID already — search at ror.org. Use it in author affiliations and grant applications where the publisher / funder supports it.

RAiD — for your project

The Research Activity Identifier is a persistent identifier for a research project — independent of any single funder, publisher, or institution. Governed by ISO 23527:2022. In production via ARDC (Australia), SURF / FAIRCORE4EOSC (Europe), and Lyrasis / SDSC (US, in pilot).

If your project has a RAiD, it threads everything together: grants, datasets, software, papers, conference talks — all under one persistent identifier. Useful for narrative CVs, project closeout reporting, and impact tracking.

DOI — for your outputs

The Digital Object Identifier is the persistent identifier for an output (article, dataset, software release, etc.). Crossref DOIs for journal articles; DataCite DOIs for datasets and software; mEDRA DOIs primarily for European publications.

IGSN — for physical samples

The International GeoSample Number is the persistent identifier for a physical sample (geological, biological, environmental). Now governed within the DataCite ecosystem.

PIDINST — for instruments

The PIDINST schema (RDA-developed) identifies research instruments. Implemented via DataCite metadata. Useful for tracking equipment provenance in reproducibility-focused work.

Software Heritage IDs

The Software Heritage identifier (SWHID) is content-derived — immutable, content-addressable — so a SWHID points at exactly that source code, byte-for-byte. The canonical identifier for citable software contributions.

DMP IDs — for data management plans

Data management plans now have their own persistent identifiers (typically DOIs minted via the DMPTool or DCC's DMP Online). Allows DMPs to be cited, linked from grant records, and tracked over the project lifecycle.