ORCiD and Research Visibility Workshop

The ORCiD and Research Visibility Workshop held on 14 August 2019 in the Merensky 2 Library Auditorium, level 3.

Several topics were dealt with by speakers from different departments/sections/institutions.

UP Scholarly Communication – Strategy for research visibility (Lazarus Matizirofa – DLS)

Effective scholarly communication enables academics, scholars, and researchers to share and publish their research findings so that they are available to the wider academic community and beyond. In order to raise the visibility of African scholarship, the Scholarly Communication in Africa Programme (SCAP) was established in four Southern African universities, viz. University of Botswana, UCT, University of Namibia and the University of Mauritius. SCAP helps by mapping current research and communication practices and by recommending and piloting technical and administrative innovations at these universities based on open access dissemination principles.

Visibility of scholarly communication means that specific knowledge and authored works can be discovered because they are traceable.

Open Access improves both researcher and research work visibility. Researcher visibility tools include Mendeley, Google Scholar, ResearcherGate, Plum, Academia, Linkedin and Impact Story.

Open Access benefits the Institution (ranking), authors (reputation) and the readers (knowledge).

Bibliometrics/Webometrics/Altmetrics

Sunette Steynberg (DLS) explained the different types of metrics used for research analysis:

• Bibliometrics (number of citations)
•  Webometrics (hyperlinks) and
•  Altmetrics (views in social media).

Since metrics are important in highlighting the impact of research, accurate analysis can be achieved by removing researcher name ambiguity. Registration with ORCiD is recommended to have one’s research output under one ID. Examples of researchers with different name formats (and therefore multiple ID’s) were given. The importance of metrics when applying for funds, promotion or rating was also emphasized.

UP research output tracking (Melody Miller - DRI)

The DHET 2015 policy recognises scholarly publishing in books, journals and conference proceedings. Only the top five (5) universities are considered for research output comparison. The 2017 universities’ research output report, released by the DHET in March 2019, puts the University of Pretoria at the top, followed by UKZN, then Wits, followed by the University of Stellenbosch and lastly the University of Johannesburg. Recommendations for the future are:

• Automation of the Research Outputs Submission Process
• Interface the library information systems with DRI/DHET reporting tool

ORCiD Integrations through the eyes of “Scholarly Perspective”

Prof Daisy Selematsela, a board member of ORCiD/CODATA/COAR highlighted several issues including perceptions and attitudes of researchers towards ORCiD from a South African experience. She also articulated the strengths and weaknesses of ORCiD as well as the challenges it poses.

General experience in using ORCiD in South Africa has revealed that:

• Uptake by researchers is slow – it is more acceptable in the Natural Sciences
• Researchers with no publications are less keen to create ORCiD profiles – they wait until they start publishing
• Most researchers with an ORCiD do not maintain/update their profiles – they expect librarians to do it on their behalf
• Researchers only register in big numbers when they are applying for promotions or ratings

Although ORCiD is a consolidated platform of researcher profiles which offers easier discoverability (unique identification) of individual researcher’s work, some technical challenges do exist:

• SearchID tab is not clearly visible (for searching researcher IDs)
• Searching specific institution on Institutional Account is not user-friendly - search function not working mostly.
• Search Form displayed on homepage is not adequate to locate researcher accurately
• Problems with consolidating two or more ORCiD numbers

ORCiD Integration – international view

Nabil Ksibi, an ORCiD representative explained in detail what ORCiD is, its significance to researchers and institutions and the benefits it provides. He explained steps to be followed when creating a profile, how to populate it and the migration of publications from other platforms to ORCiD.

He also reflected on the acceptance and use of ORCiD globally:

• More than 6.2 million live ORCiD ID’s were registered since its launch in 2012
• 3.7 ORCiD ID’s are created every minute
• 193 different languages included in ORCiD records
• 73.6% of records have granted update permissions
• 1.97 records updates made per minute

ORCiD Integration – national view

Wesley Barry, a Tertiary Education and Research Network (TENET) representative highlighted the importance of collaboration between academic institutions which permits accessing each others’ resources. Enabling users to register or sign into your system using their ORCID credentials can save them time and effort. Eduroam and SAFIRE solve internet connectivity and identity (and trust) problems respectively. TENET operates a South African ORCID Consortium, allowing beneficiary institutions to realise cost savings in their ORCID membership and gain access to local support. Member institutions include UP, UL, UKZN, UWC, UCT, NWU, Wits, TUT, NRF, DUT, etc.

UP IT Systems – ORCiD integration

Barry Hudson, a Programme Director: Enterprise Systems, ITS at UP gave an overview of “systems” at UP either recording, managing or displaying research related content. The systems are: InfoEd “Research Outputs” (InfoEd), ORCID, D-Space, Academic CV (UP PeopleSoft HCM suite),UP Middleware. UP External facing website (showcasing Profiles of Faculty/Dept academics), Research Data Management (FigShare).

It is evident that similar, but not identical, data is currently being maintained in D-Space, and ORCID, and Research Outputs (InfoEd), and PeopleSoft “Academic CV” (Talent Profile), which translates into significant duplication of effort.

Role of information specialists

Suzy Nyakale (DLS) explained the involvement of Information Specialists in the drive to highlight the importance of ORCiD to researchers. They create awareness and offer support in the creation of ORCiD profiles. Researchers are even assisted in populating their profiles and making them public for research visibility. Several campaigns were run and roadshows were conducted to achieve significant success.

Research Grants Management

Cynthia Mamabolo from DRI emphasized the importance of cooperation between the library and the DRI. She outlined the steps that are followed during evaluation of a grant application. ORCiD registration is a prerequisite for research funding by NRF. She concluded by explaining the different researcher categories (C, B, A, Y and P).

Research Data Management/Figshare

Johan van Wyk (DLS) described Figshare as a repository that stores datasets. Figshare offers an ORCID integration that once connected, will allow you to push all of your public items from Figshare to ORCID. To push all of your public items from Figshare to ORCID you need to ensure DataCite is authorised on your ORCID account.

UPSpace

Tlou Mathiba (DLS) described UPSpace as an open access electronic archive for collecting, preserving and distributing digital material that is created, owned and hosted by the University of Pretoria. UPSpace is integrated with ORCiD. ORCID records are updated every time a deposit is made in the repository.