Researcher profiles and the case of the missing publications
Imagine the scene:
- A researcher checks their citation metrics and notices a recent paper isn’t included.
- Another discovers they’ve somehow ended up with two Scopus Author IDs.
- A third finds publications from a different researcher appearing in their profile.
These situations are surprisingly common, and they all point to the same challenge: ensuring research outputs are correctly connected to the people who created them. That’s where researcher identifiers such as ORCID and profiles such as Scopus Author ID come in.
ORCID
ORCID is a free, unique and persistent identifier that researchers can use throughout their careers. It helps distinguish you from other researchers with similar names, ensuring you receive credit for your work. Data can be shared between your ORCID record, publishers, funders and institutional systems, reducing duplicate data entry and improving the accuracy of research information.
Best of all, your ORCID iD stays with you throughout your career, even if you change institutions or your name.
🔎 Case file tip: Use your ORCID consistently when submitting manuscripts and applying for grants and encourage your coauthors to use theirs too.
Scopus Author ID
Scopus Author ID helps distinguish between researchers with similar names by assigning each author in Scopus a unique identifier and grouping their publications together. Scopus uses an algorithm that matches author names based on information such as affiliation, subject area, coauthors and other publication metadata.
While this process is generally effective, it isn’t perfect. Researchers can occasionally end up with multiple author profiles or find publications missing from their record.
If you discover an issue with your author profile, you can use the Author Feedback Wizard to request updates or corrections.
🔎 Case file tip: If you discover multiple Scopus Author IDs, request a profile merge to keep your publication record together.
Case closed? Maybe not permanently.
As your publication record grows, it’s worth revisiting your researcher profiles from time to time to make sure new outputs are correctly attributed and nothing has gone astray.
If you have any questions or need help solving a profile mystery, contact the Library.
