Publishing, identifiers & metrics: Playing the numbers game

The number of scientific articles published each year is rapidly growing and so is the number of academic journals. This makes it impossible for an individual practitioner or researcher to keep track of all research published in their own field or sub-discipline. With the growing amount of publications, it is also becoming more difficult to distinguish between similar papers published on the same topic, in the same journal, or by the same researchers (or research team). This perspective paper could support students and novice researchers, outlines the difference between the unique identifier for: (1) you as the researcher, (2) a specific paper; and (3) a specific journal. This paper further outlines the various numerical identifiers associated with academic publishing to help demystify academic publishing.