Encouraging the adoption of ORCID in the Australian higher education and research sector

Encouraging the adoption of ORCID in the Australian higher education and research sector

Since the launch of the Australian Consortium in 2016, the AAF have led and encouraged the adoption of ORCID and other key persistent identifiers (PIDs) in the Australian higher education, research and innovation sectors.

ORCID is a world-wide approach to disambiguating researchers by providing them with a long-lasting identifier, connecting them to their research activities and contributions. The uptake of ORCID across Australia has been extremely successful and demonstrates the importance of integrating a trusted attribution tool into contemporary research to guarantee richer reporting and impact tracking.

The Incentives to Invest in Identifiers: A cost-benefit analysis of persistent identifiers in Australian research systems report commissioned by the AAF and the Australian Research Data Commons (ARDC) released in 2022, led to the development of the Australian National Persistent Identifier (PID) Strategy and Roadmap, released by ARDC in early 2024.

The Australian National PID Strategy envisions the accelerated enhancement of Australian research quality, efficiency, and impact through the widespread adoption and usage of connected PIDs.

In 2024, the ARDC established a series of Stakeholder Action Groups to enable the Australian National PID Strategy and to contribute to the National Collaborative Roadmap. These include:

• Research organisations stakeholder action group
• Funders stakeholder action group
• National Collaborative Research Infrastructure providers (NCRIS) stakeholder action group

Representatives from the AAF participated in these groups in 2024, including ORCID Engagement & Support Lead Melroy Almeida, and Portfolio Managers Sarah Thomas and Nick Rossow.

We look forward to continuing our collaborative work within the Stakeholder Action Groups to ensure the successful implementation of ORCID and PIDs within the Australian research community.

"The Australian ORCID Consortium led by AAF has been essential in moving Australia forward as a collective to adopt and gain the benefits of ORCID to researchers, funders and research institutions. The National PID Strategy builds on this strong foundation and expands to other persistent identifiers (PIDs), giving us a framework for greater connectivity, visibility, use and translation of Australian research. ARDC is pleased to be collaborating with AAF in the implementation stage of the National PID Strategy and congratulate them in leading the ORCID Consortium." – Natasha Simons, Director, National Coordination at Australian Research Data Commons (ARDC).

Learn more:

• Australian ORCID Consortium – https://aaf.edu.au/orcid/
• Australian National PID Strategy and Roadmap – https://pidroadmap.ardc.edu.au/pids/
• Building a future where impact tracking is easy: The Australian National Persistent Identifier (PID) Strategy and Roadmap – https://aaf.edu.au/the-australian-national-persistent-identifier-pid-strategy-and-roadmap/
• Incentives to Invest in Identifiers report – https://zenodo.org/records/7100578