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ORCID iD display guidelines

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These guidelines set out the way in which ORCID IDs should be displayed whenever they are presented to users or readers, for example in publications, or in the user interfaces of  systems used in research and scholarly communications. Common use cases for displaying ORCID IDs include links on profile pages, author lists and search results.

Following these guidelines and using the suggested ORCID iD icons, buttons and styling helps to build a consistent ORCID user experience across different contexts. This aids recognition, reduces confusion, and provides readers and users with familiar patterns to understand and interact with.

Displaying ORCID iDs

Wherever an ORCID iD is displayed it should always be accompanied by an ORCID iD icon.

These guidelines provide three different iD display formats for maximum flexibility when implementing your use case.

  1. Full ORCID iD
  2. Compact ORCID iD
  3. Inline ORCID ID

Further, we distinguish between the display of Authenticated ORCID iDs, i.e. those which have been collected from the ORCID record holder using our authenticated workflow, and Unauthenticated ORCID iDs, which have been entered manually or obtained from another system where the authentication status is unknown. 

Authenticated ORCID iDs

Full ORCID iD

This is the preferred format for links to ORCID records.

The full ORCID iD format includes an ORCID iD icon and the complete orcid.org URL, including the scheme portion (“https://”). In interactive contexts, i.e. web pages, software applications, mobile apps, etc, the URL should be hyperlinked to the corresponding ORCID record and the appropriate ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) and alt tags should be included. 

When to use this format
  • The ORCID iD is shown on its own, or in a list of links
  • There is sufficient space available to show the full URL

Example HTML

<a href=”https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2771-9344” aria-label=”View ORCID record”>

<img src=”/ORCID-iD_icon-vector.svg” alt=”ORCID iD”/>

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2771-9344

</a>

Compact ORCID iD

A shortened version of the ORCID iD that displays the iD icon before the 16-digit ORCID identifier. In interactive contexts, i.e. web pages, software applications, mobile apps, etc, the ORCID identifier should be hyperlinked to the full URL of the relevant ORCID record and the appropriate ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) and alt tags should be included.

When to use this format

  • When human readability is more important than technical correctness. ORCID IDs are persistent identifiers, which are URLs, and omitting the URL scheme and domain can lead to confusion elsewhere.

Example HTML

<a href="https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2771-9344" aria-label="View ORCID record">

<img src="/ORCID-iD_icon-vector.svg" alt="ORCID iD"/>

0000-0002-2771-9344

</a>

Inline ORCID iD

The simplest format for displaying a link to an ORCID record. The ORCID iD icon is displayed after the record holder’s name, short phrase or sentence fragment.

In interactive contexts, i.e. web pages, software applications, mobile apps, etc, the ORCID iD icon should be hyperlinked to the full URL of the relevant ORCID record  and the appropriate alt tags should be included. The preceding text can also be linked to the same record.

When to use this format

  • when the link to the record is part of a sentence or paragraph
  • Author lists within publications

Example HTML

… recently updated works on <a href="https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2771-9344">Sofia Maria Garcia Hernandez's ORCID record <img src="/ORCID-iD_icon-vector.svg" alt=""/></a>

Unauthenticated ORCID iDs

Whenever possible, ORCID IDs should always be authenticated before being displayed. However, there are a small number of situations where the use of unauthenticated ORCID iDs is acceptable within certain workflows/systems. 

Unauthenticated ORCID iDs should be displayed using the special unauthenticated ORCID iD  icon, in one of the 3 iD display formats – Full, Compact or Inline. To make it extra clear that this is an unauthenticated ORCID iD the link should be followed by “(unauthenticated)”, or the equivalent in the local language.  

Note!

Do not try to differentiate unauthenticated ORCID iDs in any way other than using the unauthenticated icon and `(unauthenticated)` suffix.  

The ORCID iD icon

The ORCID iD icons can be downloaded from the ORCID brand library. The icons must be used as provided, and must not be changed or altered in any way, as stated in our Brand Guidelines.

Authenticated ORCID iDs

Authenticated ORCID iDs have been collected from ORCID record holders using our authenticated workflow. 

Unauthenticated ORCID iDs

Unauthenticated ORCID iDs have been entered manually or obtained from another system where the authentication status is unknown.

Note!

Do not try to differentiate unauthenticated ORCID iDs in any way other than using the unauthenticated iD icon and the `(unauthenticated)` suffix. 

Icon sizes

The optimal size for the ORCID iD icon is 24 x 24px. If you have the space, use a larger version. The smallest size – 16 x 16px – should only be used when space is limited.

  • 16 x 16px
  • 24 x 24px (Optimal)
  • 32 x 32px
  • 64 x 64px
  • 128 x 128px

Note!

The 16px, 24px and 32px ORCID iD icons have been optimized for greater legibility at small sizes. 

Icon colors

The ORCID iD icon is available in 3 different colorways.

In most circumstances use the green iD icon. If a specific level of color contrast is required for accessibility reasons then you can use the high contrast black and white icon or the reversed-out white icon on darker color backgrounds. 

Notice

Do not use the ORCID iD icon in any colourway other than those shown above

The ORCID iD icons are available in two formats:

  • PNG – A bitmap icon presented in a range of fixed sizes
  • SVG – A scaleable vector icon

We recommend using the scalable SVG icon wherever possible.

Example use cases

Digital publications

The ORCID iD should be displayed in all formats of the article (i.e., HTML, PDF, EPUB) as well as related metadata.

Hyper-authored publications

Displaying ORCID iDs in hyper-authored publications (i.e., publications with 50 or more authors) should follow the guidelines above as much as possible.

A list of both authors’ names and ORCID iDs should be included with the publication. Location for both is at the discretion of the publisher. Possibilities include: following the initial author list (for ORCID iDs), at the end of the publication (for both authors’ names and ORCID iDs), or any of the locations shown for non-hyper-authored publications.

Data Repositories

ORCID iDs should be displayed where user/contributor information is displayed, in locations such as user account/profile pages, item summary/abstract pages and browse by author/creator/contributor pages

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