At SmartSimple, we are delighted to announce our re-certification under the upgraded ORCID Certified Service Provider program for Grants/Facility Application Management Systems. This updated certification reflects our commitment to adhering to the best practices and highest standards in integrating ORCID (Open Researcher and Contributor ID). In this blog, we will explore the numerous benefits of ORCID integration and how it can unlock greater efficiencies across the research funding landscape.
Research funding organizations face numerous challenges, such as managing extensive data, ensuring accurate attribution, and streamlining application and review processes for greater efficiency. ORCID provides a powerful solution by offering a unique identifier for researchers, facilitating seamless integration and management of research activities. Integrating ORCID with grants management systems not only simplifies processes but also facilitates easier impact tracking and ensures data integrity.
What is ORCID?
ORCID is a non-profit organization that provides researchers and scholars with a free, unique and persistent digital identifier. This alphanumeric identifier uniquely distinguishes individual researchers and ensures accurate attribution of their academic and professional outputs—such as publications, grants, and affiliations—throughout their careers, even as they change countries, institutional affiliations, or fields of study. ORCID addresses the problem of name confusion in the research community and provides a system that enables transparent and trustworthy connections between researchers and their contributions across various platforms and systems. By offering an open and interoperable registry, ORCID enhances the visibility, discoverability, and recognition of researchers' work globally.
Benefits for researchers
For researchers, integrating ORCID with grants management systems offers substantial advantages. One of the most significant benefits is the simplification of the application and reporting processes. Researchers often find themselves repeatedly providing the same information to various different research funding organizations. With ORCID integration, their personal and professional data can be automatically populated from their ORCID profile, aligning with ORCID’s mantra of “enter once, re-use often”. Thus, saving valuable researcher time and reducing the risk of errors. Furthermore, with their permission, researcher’s ORCID records can be updated by funders with new funding award information. These streamlined processes reduce the administrative burden on researchers and allow them to focus more on their research.
Benefits for research funding organizations and the peer review process
Research funding organizations benefit immensely from ORCID integration in their grants management systems. One of the primary advantages is the improvement in data quality and accuracy. By leveraging ORCID’s reliable and verified data, funding organizations can ensure that the information used in research evaluations is current and precise. This reduces the administrative burden of verifying researcher data and enhances the overall efficiency of the grants awarding process.
Additionally, all research funding is associated with not only the expectation of achieving impactful outcomes but also the need to report on those outcomes - a challenge for researchers and funders alike. ORCID integration facilitates better tracking and reporting of funded research outcomes. Funding organizations can seamlessly follow the progress and impact of the research they support, as researchers’ outputs are consistently linked to their ORCID iDs. This capability is crucial for demonstrating the value and impact of funded research to various stakeholders, including policymakers, funders, and the public.
The peer review process, a cornerstone of the research funding system, also benefits greatly from ORCID integration. Linking peer reviewers’ ORCID iDs to the grants management system allows for easy access to their expertise and review histories. This makes it simpler to match reviewers to grants applications based on their specific areas of expertise and interest, thereby enhancing the relevance and quality of the reviews.
Moreover, ORCID integration helps in recognizing and crediting the efforts of peer reviewers. For researchers, performing peer review activities is often a substantial yet frequently under-acknowledged component of their professional contributions. Through ORCID integration, funders can publicly acknowledge review activities by directly updating reviewers' ORCID records. This recognition can enhance their professional profiles, making them more attractive candidates for future funding, collaborations, and professional opportunities, and motivate more researchers to participate in the peer review process, ultimately strengthening the research community. The inclusion of peer review activities in ORCID records also promotes greater transparency in the research process.
How the ORCID API and integration works
The ORCID API (Application Programming Interface) is the backbone of ORCID integration with grants management systems. It allows these systems to communicate directly with the ORCID registry, enabling real-time access to researchers’ ORCID records. The integration process typically involves the following steps:
- Authentication: Researchers connect their authenticated ORCID iD with the grants management system, granting permission for the system to read from and write to their ORCID records.
- Data synchronization: The grants management system retrieves and synchronizes relevant data from the researchers’ ORCID profiles, such as biographical information, publications, and affiliations.
- Auto-population: This synchronized data can be used to auto-populate application forms, reviewer profiles, and other relevant fields within the grants management system.
- Automatic updates: Trusted entities, such as research funding organizations, have the capability to automatically update a researcher’s ORCID profile with details of new funding awards. This feature saves time and effort for researchers, again embodying ORCID's principle of “enter once, re-use often.” It’s important to note that researchers maintain full control over their ORCID profiles, including the ability to deny or withdraw permission for organizations to make changes. Additionally, organizations with ORCID integration might choose to opt out of supporting automatic updates.
By leveraging the ORCID API, grants management systems like SmartSimple Cloud can offer a seamless and user-friendly experience for researchers and administrators alike. The API provides various functionalities, such as retrieving and updating ORCID records, searching for researchers based on their ORCID iDs, and verifying researchers’ identities. These functionalities enable grants management systems to automate and optimize various tasks, reducing manual effort and minimizing errors.
Conclusion and next steps
The integration of ORCID with grants management systems represents a significant step towards creating a more connected and efficient research environment. By harnessing the power of persistent unique researcher identifiers, funding organizations can streamline processes, improve data quality, and enhance the overall management of research activities. As the research landscape evolves, embracing solutions like ORCID will be crucial for effectively addressing future challenges.
If your organization is already using SmartSimple Cloud, contact us today to enable ORCID within your system and improve your research funding processes.
Want to learn more about how SmartSimple Cloud works with ORCID to simplify your research grantmaking? Schedule a personalized demo today.