Authenticating researchers’ ORCIDs can be a daunting task for scholarly publishers, particularly for works with multiple authors. Requesting iDs from the corresponding author is the logical first step, whether by offering ORCID as a sign-in or registration option, or by allowing authors to link their profile in the manuscript submission platform with their iD. Many publishers now collect authenticated iDs from co-authors during the submission process and embed them in the manuscript’s metadata.
eLife is delighted to announce that we have taken our ORCID integration one step further, by giving contributing authors an opportunity to associate their authenticated ORCID iD with their work during the production process. When corresponding authors share the proof link with their co-authors, they are required to sign in via ExeterPremedia’s Kriya platform using their ORCIDs, which will then be collected and displayed with the article and delivered downstream to platforms such as PubMed and Crossref.
eLife, together with PLOS and The Royal Society, was the driving force behind an open letter published in January last year, committing to requiring ORCIDs in publication workflows. We were one of the original signatories and among the first to implement our ORCID mandate for submitting authors. We have been keen to collect authenticated iDs during the production process because we often receive requests to add ORCIDs at this stage. We see this as the best solution for both our authors and our workflow, as it enables even more authors to uniquely connect themselves with their eLife papers. Authors also benefit from the ORCID auto-update process by having their authenticated ORCIDs submitted to Crossref.
As well as showing our support for ORCID by signing the open letter, eLife is one of ORCID’s first member organizations to qualify for its Collect badge – part of its Collect & Connect initiative to encourage a community-based approach to developing integrations that benefit researchers, their organizations, and the wider scholarly community.
Authors who authenticate their ORCIDs during the production process will benefit later down the line, as eLife will retain their iDs within their profiles. Our reviewers are already benefitting from the initiative through the peer-review functionality, which enables us to add their reviewing activities for eLife to their ORCID records.
Contributing authors will be able to authenticate their ORCID iDs during eLife’s production process from today (March 7, 2017). Other publishers using the ExeterPremedia production platform will also be able to start collecting iDs during the production process.
This is a slightly edited version of a post published today in eLife News