This blog is re-posted from the ORCID-OJS Working Group; see the original blog post on the ORCID blog: Implementing your ORCID Plugin for OJS/OPS? Help is Here.

ORCID and the Public Knowledge Project (PKP) are proud to announce a new set of documentation resources for the ORCID Plugin for OJS, which is freely available in the OJS Plugin Gallery. With this plugin, authors and researchers can ensure their work is properly and thoroughly credited and that their time investment and administrative burden is lessened. It can also be used for Open Preprint Systems (OPS).

Over the past year, the ORCID-OJS Working Group (see participant names below) has created an updated step-by-step guide as well as an instructional video to make ORCID plugin implementation as easy as possible. As OJS and OPS are used across the globe, working across borders and collaborating between multiple institutions was key to the success of this effort.

What does the plugin do?

The ORCID plugin for OJS/OPS helps to ensure that authors get credit for their work published in OJS journals. The plugin can be enabled using either the ORCID Public API or Member API, and allows:

  1. Authors to authenticate their ORCID iD in your OJS system.
  2. Authenticated (verified) ORCID iDs to appear next to author names in OJS and OPS publications to ensure each author is uniquely identified. For publications with multiple authors, the plugin includes the ability to send ORCID authorization links to co-authors via email so that each contributor can connect their authenticated ORCID iD with the publication and get credit for their work. 
  3. ORCID members using the ORCID Member API to add publication metadata automatically to each author’s ORCID record, helping to build an authoritative, trustworthy record of publication activities for authors, while helping them save time and reduce administrative burden. 

All organizations using OJS and OPS are encouraged to use the ORCID plugin, whether your organization is an ORCID member or not. Non-members can use the ORCID Public API for free and ORCID member organizations can use the ORCID Member API to get the most value from their ORCID membership (you can find out more about becoming a member of ORCID here). For organizations publishing multiple journals or with multiple preprint servers, one ORCID API key can be used to turn on the plugin across multiple OJS/OPS installations. 

Saving time with certification

The ORCID plugin for OJS/OPS has been certified by ORCID, so PKP is now an ORCID Certified Service Provider. This means that the plugin has been tested and meets ORCID’s requirements and best practices, so member organizations wishing to implement the plugin can use ORCID production API keys right away, rather than spend time testing the plugin first in ORCID’s sandbox environment.

Simplifying the process

The following resources are available to help you set up the ORCID plugin for OJS/OPS:

Conclusion

If you’re a member organization who hasn’t yet implemented the ORCID plugin for OJS/OPS, the time is now! Our plugin guide and instructional video are here to walk you through the process with confidence and ease. 

Many thanks to the PKP/ORCID Working Group participants and contributors: