She is an active and accomplished scholar in her field.

She does research, writes and publishes, teaches, speaks at conferences,

the things that most researchers and scholars do throughout their career.

She has done her work at several different organizations, and has been fortunate to receive grants to support her research.

Sofia wants to concentrate her time and energy on her scholarship, though sometimes things get in the way:

(1) Funding organizations want to review her past work before making an award;

(2) Her institution needs her to provide a complete list of her works for her promotion review;

(3) Potential collaborators are trying to figure out if she is the Sofia Garcia they're looking for.

(1) The internet, (2) repositories, and (3) other resources; can help answer some of these questions

but they all have the same core challenge.

They attempt to link research activities and researchers based on the spelling of a person's name.

As individual as we each are, our names are actually not that unique.

Even in the same field or institution, there can be others with similar or even the exact same name.

And it can get even worse if you consider all the potential variations of a name.

Names can change over time, are sometimes expressed in different ways, in different situations or languages.

So, when someone searches for Sofia, they may or may not find all.

And, only the things that can be attributed to her work.

Today, many institutions and agencies solve this problem with paperwork. They asked Sofia to fill in forms,

to list her works, and include her affiliations and funding history.

Some may even ask her to list her collaborators along with their past work, affiliations, and funding;

what is related to Sofia's work and what is not.

There *has* to be a better way!

ORCID iDs are unique and persistent identifiers specifically for researchers, analysts, and scholars.

With an ORCID iD, Sofia can clarify what activities are hers, regardless of how her name is expressed.

Sofia registered for a free iD at the https://orcid.org website,

ORCID is a nonprofit organization that allows our users to control what data are linked to their identifier,

and how those data are made public, shared with a limited group, or made private.

The community may access data made public by our users for no fee,

and also attach it to her organization and any new public research activities she engages in,

such as: publishing a paper, releasing a data set, or applying for a grant.

With the iD attached to her activities, it makes it easier for people, institutions, and systems, to figure out which activities are Sofia's.

Even if her name doesn't always appear in the same way, distinguishing her from others with the same or similar name.

ORCID iDs are collected and used internationally by many institutions,

including: (1) publishers, (2) repositories, (3) professional associations, (4) universities, (5) funders, and (6) research organizations.

In addition to attaching her iD to new activities,

Sofia can allow these organizations to read her ORCID record, to get her already curated list of past activities.

Best of all, if Sofia leaves her current institution, the iD travels with her,

along with the list of all of her past activities.

She can continue to use the same iD throughout her career,

even if she changes employers, moves to another country, or start to do work in another field.

By linking the ORCID iD to her work when submitting a manuscript, applying for a grant, or registering for a meeting,

Sofia ensures that the organization she works with can get the information they need with less paperwork for her.

It means people will find *all* and *only* her work when they searched the internet.

Sofia can spend her time concentrating on what matters most, and that makes her very happy!

Get your ORCID iD today! It only takes 30 seconds to register for one and is completely free.

ORCID: Connecting Research and Researchers.