My Year in Review post provided an overview of our 2018 activities. Now, in our annual report you can learn more of the details – in words and pictures! Some of our key achievements:
- ORCID adoption. Not only did our five millionth researcher register for an iD during 2018 but, even more importantly, we saw a significant increase in the number of records with at least one connection to another identifier.
- Integrations. The number of ORCID member integrations increased by one third during 2018, expanding the opportunities for researchers to use their iD in situ. 73.6% of ORCID registrants have now authorized record updates from at least one member integration.
- Sustainability. Reaching financial sustainability has been a core ORCID goal since the start. We made substantial progress toward this in 2018, increasing our membership by 20% – we broke 1000! – and maintaining our 2Q 2019 breakeven forecast.
- Infrastructure and technology. All ORCID integrators — members and non-members — are now using our API v2.0 or higher. We also launched the beta version of our API 3.0, which includes data fields for research resources and more affiliation types (qualifications, invited positions, distinctions, service, and membership).
- Trust and transparency. As part of our ongoing commitment to openness, we kicked off an initiative to make it easier to see the source of information on ORCID records.
- Communities of practice. Our consortia program grew to 70% of our membership in 2018, with ORCID consortia now in 21 countries. Our consortia lead organizations help develop ORCID communities of practice in their regions, encouraging best practice and expanding the use and adoption of iDs.
- Engaging with the community. During 2018 we focused especially on the funder community through our ORBIT (ORCID Reducing Burden and Improving Transparency) initiative. In December nine funders showed their support for ORCID by signing an open letter committing their organizations to implementing ORCID using our best practices.
Working with you, our community, is at the heart of everything we do. We are grateful for your participation in our Board, our working groups and task forces, and workshops. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for your continued support of ORCID as we move toward achieving our shared vision of a world where all who participate in research, scholarship, and innovation are uniquely identified and connected with their contributions and affiliations, across disciplines, borders, and time.