Each scientist is assigned a unique ID.

In 2011, Y. Wang became the most prolific author of scientific publications, with his name came out 3926 works, that is, more than ten per day. Never heard of him? This is because there are many researchers around the world called Y. Wang, who are distinguished by their educational institution.

The list of 100 most active authors of scientific works is like a puzzle. Since China is among the world's leaders in the number of scientific publications, and Chinese scientists are also working in other countries, it is very difficult to make out those who are stuck together in the list of Zhangov, Li, Chenov and other Vangs, writes the journal Nature. But this problem can be solved by the new system of identification of scientists ORCID (Open Researcher and Contributor ID), which is about to be launched soon. Some scientists will be able to get their ORCID number for free already at the end of 2012.

Like barcodes in a supermarket, ORCIDs will be assigned to each scientist. The ID is a 16-digit numeric code. The goal is to improve the normal operation of mutual quoting in a machine-readable format. If the system becomes widespread, then a real social graph can be built on its base, as in other social networks, with all its advantages.

In addition, the presence of ID should be convenient and by the scientist. When filling out numerous electronic forms before publishing scientific papers or issuing grants, they can simply indicate their ORCID number. Fields with personal information will be filled automatically by pulling the relevant data from the database.
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Currently, about 280 organizations have joined ORCID members, including many reputable universities and scientific publishing houses. But this is not enough: to complete the work of the system, it is necessary that it should be accepted by everyone without exception. At the same time, surveys show that some representatives of the scientific community are not aware of the practical benefits of the global identification of ORCID, and some scientists have not heard of it at all.

By the way, for scientific works they have already implemented a convenient DOI (digital object identifier) ​​identification system.