Research Resources

Research resources include user facilities such as laboratories, repositories housing special collections, specialist equipment, and other resources that researchers request permission to use.

The workflow described here requires a touchpoint with the researcher where their ORCID iD can be collected using an authentication process. This would typically be during a specific proposal process or when the researcher is requesting credentials to access the resource. We also strongly recommend that the sponsoring organization connects information about the use of their resources to their researchers’ ORCID records, so that it can be shared — with permission — with other organizations, such as their institution, publisher, or funder.

A research resource workflow will follow the pattern described below, although this can vary depending on the specific use case. This example is based on a researcher submitting a proposal to access a research resource.

The researcher starts the proposal submission process for the resource provider (an ORCID member)
The resource provider authenticates the researcher’s ORCID iD, requests permission to interact with their record, and stores that permission. For technical information on authenticating using Oauth please refer to our documents.
The resource provider collects data from the researcher’s record using the ORCID API and uses it to help populate the proposal application form
When a proposal is accepted, the resource provider adds information about the proposal and the research resources being used to the researcher’s ORCID record, connecting the person with the infrastructure
The resource provider includes link between the ORCID iD and the proposal within their own system, displaying the connection in the appropriate pages.
The resource provider retains the ORCID iD and associated permissions in order to update the researcher’s record in future, as needed, synchronizing the two systems. This could include adding proposal outputs such as data or articles, or updating research resource access
(Optional) The resource provider uses the link between infrastructure and ORCID iD to help discover related outputs and track the impact of their research resources

Sponsoring organizations that implement this workflow stand to benefit from improved acknowledgement of resource use and a better understanding of the impact of the work undertaken by researchers using them. Researchers also benefit from the transparent, reliable connections with funders, publishers, and research institutions that will enable them to easily share their resource awards. Resource-hosting organizations can also make the reporting process more straightforward and reliable by embedding identifiers in the application process, and by creating and sharing connections between users and resources.

Example

Benefits

Research resources — from research facilities housing specialized equipment, to repositories and field stations that house physical collections — and sponsoring organizations stand to benefit from improved acknowledgement of resource use and a better understanding of the impact of the work undertaken by researchers using them. Resource-hosting organizations can make the reporting process more straightforward and reliable by embedding identifiers in the application process, and by creating and sharing connections between users and resources, enabling you to:

Reduce the burden on your researchers by allowing them to draw information from their ORCID record to auto-populate standard fields in the proposal submission form, and by adding award information to their ORCID record so they can use it when publishing papers and datasets
Make your resource(s) citable by standardizing the name with a persistent identifier, and also using a resolvable identifier for each awarded proposal
Share information about the research at your facility by posting proposal award information and associated identifiers in a publicly accessible database
Improve the speed and completeness of post-award reporting for your researchers by using the ORCID API to receive updates on their activities

Enabling interoperability — sharing of information about research across systems — not only streamlines reporting, it also underpins open research. For researchers, the ability to easily share research is intertwined with the need to get credit for their contributions. The research community as a whole cares about openness because it facilitates rigor and reproducibility, both of which are important for ensuring public trust in research processes.

More information

How do I collect an authenticated ID?

You collect authenticated IDs when you ask a researcher to sign in with their ORCID iD. This process uses a technology called “OAuth” or “SSO” and should be built into your workflow.

See the API Tutorial ‘Get an Authenticated ORCID iD‘ for more details.

How do I request permission to update an ORCID record?

The process to get permission to add or update data on a user’s ORCID record uses OAuth, as described in our 3 Legged OAuth FAQ. Only ORCID members can use the Member API to ask for update permissions. In simple terms it works like this:

Your local system creates a special link
When clicked, the user is sent to ORCID, signs in and grants permission
ORCID sends the user back to your system with an ‘authorization code’
Your system exchanges that code for an ‘access token’
The access token lets you update the user’s record

How do I add items to an ORCID record?

Items (works, employment, funding, peer review etc) can be added to an ORCID record using the ORCID member API. You need the following:

The researchers permission
Member API credentials
And either:
- A vendor system that integrates with the ORCID Member API
- Your own system that integrates with the ORCID Member API

What should I communicate to my users?

To support the social component we offer a toolkit of Outreach Resources to help you develop a campaign to support your integration, and communicate to your researchers:

What ORCID is.
Why your system collects iDs and how your system will perform tasks, such as updating their records.
Why your researchers will benefit by creating an ORCID iD and connecting their iDs to your system.
How ORCID benefits the wider, global research community.

We will be continually building out this “library” of resources based on feedback from the community. If you have an idea for something you might like to see, please feel free to contact us.

Why should I collect authenticated ORCID iDs?

Collecting validated ORCID iDs for individuals through the OAUTH process is important. Individuals sign into their ORCID accounts using their registered email address and password or they can create a new account and then authorize your system to obtain their ORCID iD. This ensures you get the correct ORCID iD for the researcher and that the information on that record reflects their research activities (see What’s So Special About Signing In).

Why should I update ORCID records?

You can help make life easier for your users by connecting validated information to their ORCID records. You will also be helping to build trust in scholarly communications and, by keeping that data up to date, you can reduce the reporting burden for your users and improve data quality.

ORCID for Research Organisations

In addition to its use as a persistent identifier for your researchers, ORCID can help you take control of how your institution’s name is used across research systems. In combination with other persistent identifiers ORCID enables you to authoritatively assert your staff, faculty, and student affiliations with your institution. You can also use ORCID APIs to receive real-time notifications about research activities, to auto-update forms, and to follow your alumni’s careers.

ORCID for Funding Organisations

By embedding ORCID iDs in your funding workflows, you can reliably connect your grantees and funding programs — and save everyone time and reduce errors caused by manual keying of information. Using ORCID in your system(s), you can play your part in building a trusted research information infrastructure by asserting connections between individuals and the grants you award them.

ORCID for Publishers

Researchers are at the heart of everything that scholarly and research publishers do. Accurate author and reviewer information is vital to indexing, search and discovery, publication tracking, funding and resource use attribution, and supporting peer review.

ORCID serves as an information hub, enabling your authors and reviewers to reliably connect to their contributions, and to share information from their ORCID record as they interact with your publishing systems. Collecting iDs for all your authors and reviewers during the publication process — whether for books, journals, datasets, compositions, presentations, code, or a variety of other works — allows for information to be easily shared, ensures researchers can provide consent to share, saves researchers time and hassle, reduces the risk of errors and, critically, enables researchers to get the credit they deserve for the important work they’re doing.

What information does a research resource item contain?

There are many types of research resources, from single-use reagents to international collaboratives with dedicated facilities. ORCID supports a high-level model that can link to other places for domain specific detail.

There are four high-level resource types:

Resource Type	Definition	Examples
Infrastructure	A facility, building, or other physical space used to perform research	Neutron spallation source, animal facility, data enclave, archaeological site, telescope array. ships, planes, farms, laboratories
Collection	An object or group of objects used for research purposes; can be tangible or digital	Ocean mission, field campaign, collaborative data sets or resources, rare book collection; museum collection, biological specimen collection
Equipment	Hardware used for research purposes	Microscope, computers, glassware, samples, materials
Service	Services used for research purposes	Proteomics analysis, computing services, data analysis, logistical support, legal services, copyediting, expert or staff advisement

In addition to resource type, a research resource item within an ORCID record contains the following information. * indicates required items

Proposal/Registration Title:* This is the main display field for research resources e.g., “Neutron Beam Award” or “Beam time and computing resources”
Proposal/Registration ID:* This is the public identifier (DOI, PURL, etc.) for the proposal or request to use the resource. Ideally, this identifier should be persistent and resolve to a public landing page with information about the proposal or request, such as an awards database or resource user log.
Proposal Host(s):* This is the organization that receives and processes resource proposals or requests. Proposal Host may be the same as Resource Host
Proposal Host Name:*
Proposal Host Organization iD* This is the public identifier (one of GRID, Ringgold ID, Open Funder ID, LEI) for the organization managing the proposal or request process
Resource(s):* (up to 100)
Resource Name:* – e.g., “Neutron Spallation Source”
Resource ID(s):* – from an extensible list of acceptable PID types (e.g. RRID, DOI, URI)
Resource Type:* – one of ‘Infrastructures’, ‘Collections’, ‘Equipment’, or ‘Services’
Resource Host(s):* This is the organization that administers or operates the Resource, such as a national laboratory, government agency, or research university
Resource Host Name:* The organization(s) that administer or operate the resource, typically a national laboratory, government agency, or research university.
Resource Host Organization ID:* Proposal URL: A link to the proposal
Proposal Start Date: The date the access started
Proposal End Date: The date the access ended or will end

* Indicates required field

Technical documentation

A more detailed tutorial can be found here.