Researcher profiles connect your scholarly work to a persistent professional identity, making it easier for colleagues, funders, and publishers to find, cite, and credit your research. Accurate, linked, and up-to-date profiles reduce name confusion, enhance visibility, and provide a reliable record of your academic contributions, supporting promotion, tenure, and compliance with funding agency and publisher requirements.
By managing your profiles, you bring your publications, research activities, and affiliations together in one place. This helps you track citation metrics, share your work widely, and connect with potential collaborators or employers. Linked profiles also save time by keeping your scholarly record consistent across platforms.
Curating your researcher profiles builds visibility, strengthens your professional reputation, and ensures your work receives the recognition it deserves.
This LibGuide introduces four major researcher profile systems, helping you build and maintain each one:
Google Scholar Profile: Learn to create a freely accessible academic profile, monitor your citations, and track your publications.
ORCID iD: Set up a persistent digital identifier, aggregate your works across platforms, and understand how ORCID fits into scholarly identity management.
Web of Science Researcher Profile: Find out how to highlight your work, display citation metrics, document peer review activities, and sync with other platforms.
Scopus Author ID: Discover your Scopus profile, review your publication listings and citations, and link your data to your ORCID record for consistency.
Each section includes step-by-step guidance, practical tips for keeping your profile accurate and visible, and troubleshooting advice for common issues.
The table below compares four major researcher profile systems, outlining their benefits, best uses, and whether they can sync with ORCID.
| Profile System | Main Benefits | Best For | Can Sync With ORCID? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Scholar | Citation tracking, discoverability | Published articles | No |
| ORCID iD | Cross-platform ID, works aggregation | All scholarly outputs | N/A (is itself an ID) |
| Web of Science | Metrics, peer review, editorial roles | Research impact and visibility | Yes |
| Scopus Author ID | Citation tracking, publication history | Scopus-indexed authors | Yes |
Want to learn more or get started right away? These links offer quick access to helpful tools and resources.
If you have questions about managing your researcher profiles, publication lists, or any aspect of scholarly communications, help is just a click away!
Contact Julia K. Nims, Scholarly Communications Librarian, at jnims@emich.edu for assistance with ORCID, ResearcherID, Scopus Author ID, and related topics.
If your question is discipline-specific, you can also reach out to your subject librarian. Find your librarian on the EMU Library website (opens in a new window) for personalized research support.