To use the plugin, you will first need to obtain either Public or Member ORCID API credentials (Client ID and Client Secret) and then configure the ORCID plugin in OJS/OPS with this information.
This chapter explains how to obtain production (live) credentials and add them to the ORCID plugin in your OJS/OPS. You can also test the plugin with Sandbox credentials first before using the live credentials. For details on how to test in the Sandbox and why you may want to, see the Appendix: Testing the ORCID Sandbox chapter.
IMPORTANT: do not enable the plugin until you have the credentials and are ready to setup the plugin.
ORCID iD registration is free and only requires your name and email.
If you already have an ORCID iD, skip to 2. Sign into your ORCID iD.
Click your name on the top right and select “Developer Tools” from the drop-down.
Click on the button “Register for the free ORCID public API”.
You will be asked to read and consent to the terms of service.
In the registration form, enter:
Member API credentials are connected to an ORCID member organization. Your organization must be an ORCID member to request Member API credentials. If your journal is affiliated with an institution, contact the institution’s library to ask about ORCID membership and API credentials. You may also wish to check whether your organization belongs to a local consortium, as you may be able to receive help from the consortium. You can also contact ORCID directly at support@orcid.org.
To request your Member API credentials, complete the form to Register a client application: Production Member API - Trusted Party. Once you submit the form, ORCID will email your production member Client ID and Client Secret to you.
When you register for ORCID API credentials, you will need to enter at least one Redirect URI, which is the journal location that your users will be sent to after authorizing OJS/OPS to connect to their ORCID record, The URI must begin with “https://” and include the link to the journal as part of the URI. For example:
The host option allows any URI under that host to be used as a Redirect URI. In multiple journal instances, make sure you choose the base url of your domain and not individual journals to avoid redirect errors. For individual journals it is important to use the journal path (typically something like “index.php/testJournal”, without any trailing information, as per above). Any additional information in the URI will cause the redirect to not work.
If a URI needs to be updated, or new one(s) added:
For more detail on Redirect URIs, see the ORCID support page for Public APIs and Member APIs, respectively.
Please note: When registering to receive Member API credentials, organizations are required to indicate the “Client Name” along with the Redirect URI(s). When working with multiple journals as part of an OJS instance, the Client Name used must be broad enough to serve as a source for all of the journals hosted on its instance(s), as the Client Name is what will appear as the “source” of data when a work from OJS is written to an ORCID record (e.g. “ABC University journal hosting service”). However, if you plan to install only one journal in your domain and use ORCID for that journal, then the Client Name can be indicated as the name of the journal.
When registering for Sandbox or Production Member API credentials through ORCID, although there appears to be a limit of five redirects, you can add as many as you like to the ‘notes to ORCID’ section. If you ever need to adjust, add, or remove URIs, you can resubmit the form and indicate that it is for an existing application.
After you have obtained your Client ID and Client Secret from ORCID, you can enable and configure the plugin in OJS/OPS.
First, enable the ORCID plugin for each journal (OJS) or preprint server (OPS) on your installation:
There are three potential scenarios for configuring the plugin, based on your use case:
If you want to enable the ORCID plugin for a single journal (OJS) or preprint server (OPS):
For a visual walkthrough see this ORCID plugin setup video.
Under “E-Mail Settings” you can tick the checkbox to “Send e-mail to request ORCID authorization from authors when an article is accepted.” If checked, OJS/OPS will send an email automatically to authors who have not already linked their ORCID iDs when the article is published asking them to link their iDs. This request will be sent using the “ORCID Collect Author Id” email template (Public API) or “ORCID Request Author Authorization” (Member API).
For multi-journal and multi-preprint server installations the plugin can be set site-wide in config.inc.php
to enable the ORCID plugin for all journals. Note that site-wide settings through config.inc.php
override any existing individual plugin settings. However, the plugin can be enabled/disabled on an individual basis for journals, and each journal can manage their own email settings as described above. Adding credentials in the config.inc.php hides the Client Secret from Journal/Server Managers, which may be preferred if you have institutional credentials for ORCID. Add the following section to your config.inc.php
file:
Note that the api_url
needs to end with a slash.