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Use Identifiers

For Your Data

  • Why assign Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) to your data?
    • Create an integral part of your data citation
    • Enable easy reuse and locating of your data by others
    • Allow the impact of data to be tracked
    • Create a scholarly structure that recognizes and rewards data producers
    • Strengthen your Data Management Plan for naming and organizing your research results
  • Deposit your research data into UC San Diego Library's repository - DOIs are automatically assigned during the ingest process.
  • If it better fits your research needs, register for your own EZID account - a service managed by the UC Curation Center and paid for by the UC San Diego Library to assign DOIs that persistently link to your data. The EZID service allows you to register and cite persistent identifiers for your datasets. Automated workflows are available with EZID's application programming interface (API).

For Yourself

The Library recommends that you obtain a unique researcher identifier through ORCID (Open Researcher and Contributor ID). The ORCID Registry is available free of charge; visit their website to obtain an ORCID identifier, manage your record, and search for others in the Registry.

ORCID provides you with a persistent digital identifier that distinguishes you from any other researcher and, through integration in key research workflows such as manuscript and grant submission, supports automated linkages between you and your professional activities.

  • Ensure that your work is recognized; facilitate disambiguation between your name and those that are similar
  • Enhance the scientific discovery process
  • Comply with an increasing number of funders’ requirements
  • Strengthen collaboration within the research community

Questions about ORCID? Check out the Scholarly Communication ORCID guide or contact scholcomm@ucsd.edu.

What are digital identifiers?

  • An identifier establishes an association between a character string and an object. Objects can be data files, publications, electronic resources, web pages, names of persons or organizations, and even physical objects. The character string is a unique set of characters assigned by a registration agency that identifies the object on a digital network.
  • A "persistent identifier" is an identifier that is available and managed over time; it will not change if the object is moved or renamed, so the object can be reliably referenced for future access by humans and software.
  • Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) are in widespread use for journal articles and are increasingly utilized as a means of precisely identifying specific datasets.

Examples of identifiers and their use in citations: