Author Identification Systems [Tips from the Experts]

Abstract

Many efforts are currently underway to disambiguate author names and assign unique identification numbers so that publications by a given scholar can be reliably grouped together. This paper reviews a number of operational and in-development services. Some systems like ResearcherId.Com depend on self-registration and self-identification of a researcher's articles. Some database producers are using a combination of computer algorithms and manual intervention to assign author identification numbers and thereby cluster publications as records are entered into their systems. Searchers doing author name searches can then use guided search features to review and select these clusters. Web of Knowledge offers Author Finder while Scopus has a similar Author Identifier feature. Various government agencies and non-profit organization are also implementing or planning to implement additional solutions such as CrossRef's ContributorID.