Do You Have an ORCID iD?
Searching for publications by a specific author can be frustrating. Many authors have the same or similar names, and sometimes names change due to marriage or for other reasons. This problem led to the creation of the Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID) initiative in 2010, of which the AAS is a member organization. An ORCID iD is a unique, permanent identifier for researchers. Individuals can register themselves and their professional activities, such as articles published, grants acquired, or awards received. Many publications and applications now require an ORCID iD, so now's a great time to jump on board if you haven't already. Creating your ORCID iD take less than a minute; sign up now at ORCID.org.
Already have an ORCID iD? You should know that some important updates have been made to the system:
- You now have even more control over who sees what in your record. The visibility of each element is customizable, as is the order in which elements are displayed.
- If you work in more than one country or region, you can now add them all to your record.
- The date each element of your record was added or modified, as well as the source, can now be easily viewed.
Make sure you update your record to utilize these new controls.
The Astrophysics Data System (ADS), with support from the AAS, has made it even easier for ADS users to search for and claim their publications. Publications claimed via ADS will appear in your ORCID profile. Learn more about the ADS integration on the ADS Help site, or by watching Alberto Accomazzi's presentation from the 227th AAS meeting.
Don't forget that you can add your ORCID iD to your AAS member profile, too. To do so, visit members.aas.org, log in with your AAS username and password, and click on My Account in the main menu bar. On the next page, you’ll see a Contact Information box, which you can modify by clicking on the pencil icon 
in the upper-right corner. Enter your ORCID iD in the last box of the Edit window in the format