ResearcherID
Encyclopedia
ResearcherID is an identifying system for scientific authors. The system was introduced in January 2008 by Thomson Reuters
.
This unique identifier aims at solving the problem of author identification. In scientific literature it is common to cite name, surname, and initials of the authors of an article. Sometimes however, there are authors with the same name, with the same initials, or the journal misspells, resulting in several spellings for the same authors, and different authors with the same spelling.
On the ResearcherID website, authors are asked to link their ResearcherID to their own articles. In this way, they can also keep their publication list up to date and online. A comprehensive view of an author's total output can thus be given since not all publications are indexed by Web of Science
. This is particularly important for researchers in fields which predominantly use peer-reviewed
conference articles (computer science
) or in fields which focus on publishing books and chapters in books (humanities
and disciplines in the social sciences
).
The combined use of the Digital Object Identifier
with the ResearcherID allows for a unique association of authors and scientific articles. It can be used to link researchers with registered trials or identify colleagues and collaborators in the same field of research.
ResearcherID has been criticized for being commercial and proprietary, but also praised as "an initiative addressing the common problem of author misidentification".
Thomson Reuters
Thomson Reuters Corporation is a provider of information for the world's businesses and professionals and is created by the Thomson Corporation's purchase of Reuters Group on 17 April 2008. Thomson Reuters is headquartered at 3 Times Square, New York City, USA...
.
This unique identifier aims at solving the problem of author identification. In scientific literature it is common to cite name, surname, and initials of the authors of an article. Sometimes however, there are authors with the same name, with the same initials, or the journal misspells, resulting in several spellings for the same authors, and different authors with the same spelling.
On the ResearcherID website, authors are asked to link their ResearcherID to their own articles. In this way, they can also keep their publication list up to date and online. A comprehensive view of an author's total output can thus be given since not all publications are indexed by Web of Science
Web of Science
ISI Web of Knowledge is an academic citation indexing and search service, which is combined with web linking and provided by Thomson Reuters. Web of Knowledge coverage encompasses the sciences, social sciences, arts and humanities. It provides bibliographic content and the tools to access, analyze,...
. This is particularly important for researchers in fields which predominantly use peer-reviewed
Peer review
Peer review is a process of self-regulation by a profession or a process of evaluation involving qualified individuals within the relevant field. Peer review methods are employed to maintain standards, improve performance and provide credibility...
conference articles (computer science
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
) or in fields which focus on publishing books and chapters in books (humanities
Humanities
The humanities are academic disciplines that study the human condition, using methods that are primarily analytical, critical, or speculative, as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural sciences....
and disciplines in the social sciences
Social sciences
Social science is the field of study concerned with society. "Social science" is commonly used as an umbrella term to refer to a plurality of fields outside of the natural sciences usually exclusive of the administrative or managerial sciences...
).
The combined use of the Digital Object Identifier
Digital object identifier
A digital object identifier is a character string used to uniquely identify an object such as an electronic document. Metadata about the object is stored in association with the DOI name and this metadata may include a location, such as a URL, where the object can be found...
with the ResearcherID allows for a unique association of authors and scientific articles. It can be used to link researchers with registered trials or identify colleagues and collaborators in the same field of research.
ResearcherID has been criticized for being commercial and proprietary, but also praised as "an initiative addressing the common problem of author misidentification".
See also
- International Standard Name Identifier
- OpenIDOpenIDOpenID is an open standard that describes how users can be authenticated in a decentralized manner, eliminating the need for services to provide their own ad hoc systems and allowing users to consolidate their digital identities...
- ORCIDORCIDORCID is a proposed nonproprietary alphanumeric code that would uniquely identify scientific and other academic authors...
- Virtual International Authority FileVirtual International Authority FileThe Virtual International Authority File is an international authority file. It is a joint project of several national libraries and operated by the Online Computer Library Center...