To add an ORCID iD correctly, always use the hyperlinked full iD URI (https://orcid.org/0000-0000-0000-0000), not a bare 16-digit number. Whether the target is a manuscript byline, a CV, or a grant biosketch, the same rule applies: display the ORCID iD icon and/or the full URI, hyperlinked to the record, so a reader or a machine can resolve it in one click. This guide covers how to add an ORCID iD to a manuscript, a CV, and a grant application, using the format publishers and funders actually expect.
An ORCID iD is a free, persistent 16-digit identifier — issued by the non-profit organisation ORCID — that uniquely distinguishes a researcher from every other researcher, including those who share a name. Most journal, funder and CRIS integrations parse the iD as a URI, not free text, so a malformed entry simply fails to link.
- What is the official ORCID iD display format?
- How do you add an ORCID iD to a manuscript?
- How do you add an ORCID iD to a CV?
- How do you add an ORCID iD to a grant application or biosketch?
- Common ORCID iD formatting questions
- Why correct formatting matters
- The bottom line
What Is the Official ORCID iD Display Format?
ORCID’s own Guidelines on the Display of ORCID iDs in Publications set out three acceptable options, in order of preference: the iD icon plus the full iD URI (hyperlinked, https scheme); the icon alone (hyperlinked); or the full URI alone (hyperlinked). At minimum, the identifier must be shown as the full URI with the https scheme — a bare number such as “0000-0002-1825-0097” without the “https://orcid.org/” prefix is non-compliant.
Where the icon is used, ORCID specifies that it should scale with the surrounding text height and carry a buffer equal to 50% of the icon’s width — a 16×16-pixel icon needs a 4-pixel buffer. Icon files are available from ORCID’s Trademark and iD Display Guidelines page; do not recreate the icon by hand, as unofficial reproductions can fail publisher validation checks.
| Display option | Format | Where it is used |
|---|---|---|
| Icon + full URI | [icon] https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1825-0097 | Journal author lists, CVs |
| Icon only, hyperlinked | [icon] (linked) | Byline space-constrained layouts |
| Full URI only | https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1825-0097 | Plain-text CVs, grant biosketches, LaTeX/PDF |
How Do You Add an ORCID iD to a Manuscript?
For a manuscript, the correct route is almost never to type the iD manually into the text. Instead, authenticate your ORCID iD through the journal’s submission system — ScholarOne, Editorial Manager, eJournalPress and similar platforms all include an “Associate/Link your ORCID iD” step. Authentication (an OAuth login to orcid.org, not a typed-in number) lets the publisher deposit the iD in its Crossref metadata and display it correctly on the published article.
Adding the ORCID iD icon in a Microsoft Word manuscript
Some journals ask authors to place the iD icon next to their name in a Word manuscript before submission. Download the official icon from ORCID’s trademark page, insert it as an image after the author’s name, then use Word’s “Insert > Link” to hyperlink the icon to the full iD URI. Both the icon and any visible URI text should resolve to the same address.
Adding the ORCID iD in LaTeX or a submitted PDF
In LaTeX, use the orcidlink package, which renders the icon inline and hyperlinks it (\orcidlink{0000-0002-1825-0097}), or a manual \href{} command; many publisher templates (Elsevier, Springer, IEEE) already have a dedicated ORCID author field. If a journal instead asks for the iD visible in a pre-typeset PDF, place the hyperlinked full URI beneath the author’s name on the title page.
How Do You Add an ORCID iD to a CV?
On an academic CV, place the hyperlinked ORCID iD in the header contact block, beside your institutional email — treat it as core contact information, not a “miscellaneous” afterthought. Use the full URI format (https://orcid.org/0000-0000-0000-0000) so the link survives being copied into plain-text application forms and applicant-tracking systems that strip embedded hyperlinks but preserve visible URL text.
A well-maintained ORCID record can also generate much of the CV itself: the “Works”, “Employment”, “Education” and “Funding” sections can be exported and repurposed, and connecting ORCID to Scopus, Crossref, and DataCite lets those sources auto-populate your publication list.
How Do You Add an ORCID iD to a Grant Application or Biosketch?
Funder requirements for ORCID iDs are no longer optional courtesy fields, and formatting compliance is checked programmatically at submission. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) notice NOT-OD-19-109 required ORCID iDs for individuals supported by research training, fellowship, research education and career development awards from fiscal year 2020: xTrain began enforcing this for trainee appointments from 1 October 2019, and individual fellowship/career development applications with receipt dates on or after 25 January 2020 must carry a linked ORCID iD in the applicant’s eRA Commons profile before proceeding to review.
For NIH biosketches, the ORCID iD sits directly beneath the applicant’s name; the biosketch is typically generated through SciENcv, which links to an ORCID account and imports publications automatically.
UKRI currently encourages, rather than mandates, an ORCID iD on Je-S applications, where linked iDs are surfaced publicly on Gateway to Research; UKRI has stated that linking an ORCID iD in its newer Funding Service will become mandatory six months after that functionality is available, as Je-S is phased out. Check current status before submitting, since the rollout is phased rather than universal.
- NIH: required at appointment/application stage for training, fellowship, career development and research education awards (NOT-OD-19-109).
- UKRI: encouraged now; mandatory in the Funding Service on a phased timetable.
- Horizon Europe: field available in the Funding & Tenders Portal profile; not yet a hard gate for all calls.
Common ORCID iD Formatting Questions
Is an ORCID iD required for publication?
Requirements vary by publisher. Many major publishers (Springer Nature, Taylor & Francis, and Elsevier journals following ICMJE recommendations) now require the corresponding author, and often all co-authors, to authenticate an ORCID iD during submission, while some journals still treat it as optional. Check the specific journal’s author guidelines before submitting.
How do I add an ORCID iD icon to a manuscript in Word?
Download the official icon from ORCID’s trademark page, insert it as an image next to the author’s name, then hyperlink the icon to the full iD URI using Word’s Insert Link function. Never substitute a screenshot or a differently coloured icon — publishers validate against the official asset and design specification.
How do I link my ORCID iD?
Sign in to your ORCID account, then use the platform’s own “Connect your ORCID iD” option — available in journal submission systems, funder portals, and institutional CRIS tools. This creates an authenticated link, more trustworthy to downstream systems than a manually typed number.
How do I include an ORCID iD in LaTeX?
Use the orcidlink LaTeX package, which renders the hyperlinked icon inline with a single command, or check whether your target journal’s class file already provides a dedicated ORCID author field — most major publisher templates do, which avoids inconsistent manual formatting.
Why Correct ORCID iD Formatting Matters
A malformed entry — a bare number with no hyperlink, an unofficial icon, or a typo in the 16-digit string — breaks the machine-readable chain that ORCID, Crossref and funder systems rely on to disambiguate researchers and attribute work automatically. Publishers depositing ORCID metadata with Crossref propagate a correctly linked iD into citation databases and institutional repositories; a broken link means that attribution has to be corrected manually later.
For funding applications the stakes are procedural: NIH’s xTrain system will not accept a trainee appointment for agency review without a linked ORCID iD, and as UKRI’s Funding Service requirement phases in, a malformed iD is increasingly likely to stall an application before it reaches a reviewer.
The Bottom Line
The formatting rule is consistent across every surface a researcher touches — manuscript byline, CV header, or grant biosketch: use the full, hyperlinked ORCID iD URI (https://orcid.org/0000-0000-0000-0000), authenticate rather than hand-type it wherever a system allows login, and pair it with the official icon only when using ORCID’s own trademark assets. As more funders follow NIH’s lead, treating the iD as a formatted, verifiable credential — not an optional footnote — will increasingly determine whether an application proceeds at all.
CASRAI originated the CRediT contributor role taxonomy in 2014; the standard is now stewarded by NISO as ANSI/NISO Z39.104-2022. A correctly linked ORCID iD makes CRediT role attributions and other contributorship metadata machine-resolvable back to a specific researcher — see the CRediT contributor roles reference for how the two standards work together in a publication’s metadata.
