Knowledge and Use of the ORCID Author Identifier in France: A National Survey

Abstract

In this article, we explore the uses and awareness of the ORCID identifier in the French national research community using a questionnaire survey. This questionnaire has been completed in full by 6125 researchers, amounting to approximately 3.2% of the French national population of researchers. We asked the respondents about their reasons for creating an ORCID identifier, how they had discovered ORCID, what the characteristics of their ORCID profile were (privacy, completion of the various sections, etc.) and how they used it (context, motivations and obstacles). We also asked them about their knowledge of the ORCID ecosystem. We found that researchers overall reported a concrete, pragmatic knowledge of the ORCID identifier. The political and strategic framework remains generally unclear, or is unfamiliar, whether in terms of the objectives or the general interest of this tool. Researchers often only perceive the most obvious functionalities in their daily work, such as having an online profile. The less immediate or less individual features, such as being able to distinguish themselves from other researchers, are therefore not as well known and used. Our results should help stakeholders in France and internationally to adapt their policies and to support researchers more efficiently in the use of the ORCID identifier.