Here are 3 tips to increase your scientific output’s visibility and to undertake an open science process.

1. Have at least one ORCID ID and one Hal ID

A researcher ID  or author ID is a unique code assigned to any author of scientific output. This code unambiguously identifies the author in a given digital environment.

There are many such codes (for example: ORCID, IdHAL, IdRef, Publons, Scopus Author Id, etc.), and it is worthwhile being visible on most of them.

  • ORCID ID

To establish a priority from among all these possibilities, you are recommended to first create an ORCID (Open Researcher and Contributor ID) identifier – which is an international non-profit organisation. ORCID manages a central directory of researcher identifiers (ORCID ID) with the data of the profiles of the persons registered: successive affiliation institutions, teaching curricula, awards received, membership in organisations, projects funded, publications, etc. As at 8 February 2021, ORCID stated that it manages more than 10 million living identifiers.

For researchers, the ORCID ID system is interesting because it is international, free of charge, and linked to multiple sources of information such as:

  • bibliographic databases (Scopus, Web of Science, etc.)
  • publishers of magazines or works
  • funding agencies (ANR, ERC, Horizon, etc.)
  • publications and/or data warehouses (HAL, ArXiv, OpenAIRE, Dryad, Figshare, etc.).

It should be noted that it is gradually becoming a requirement when submitting projects.

The advantage of ORCID is that it is identified by the Committee for Open Science as a pivotal identifier that can interface with others.

  • HAL ID

It is also strongly recommended for all researchers to have a HAL ID. HAL (Hyper Article en Ligne) is an open, multidisciplinary French archive, accessible free of charge and freely to all. It serves to electronically submit and distribute scientific documents, whether published or not.

France’s second national plan for open science (PNSO) also places a strong emphasis on researchers’ use of the open HAL archive, whose role is already central at the national level, and constantly increasing.

2. Fill in the ORCID and HAL forms as completely as possible

For each account associated with a researcher ID, it is important for the researcher to fill in the proposed fields (profile, scientific production, past and current projects, CV, etc.) as completely as possible.

Correctly and consistently referencing your affiliation (i.e. with Centrale Lille) is, in particular, a crucial point for our institution’s good visibility.

In addition, to facilitate the task of entering entry, it is possible to create links between the various search identifiers and to carry out automated data transfers.

See more information on transfers between HAL and ORCID by clicking here.

3. Amplify, or even systematise, an individual and collective approach to open science

The PNSO plan defines open science as the unimpeded dissemination of scientific research results, methods and output. In particular, it recommends that the opening of scientific publications should now become an essential practice, whether by publishing works natively in open access mode, or by submitting works in a public open archive (e.g. HAL).

The visibility and impact of research work increases very significantly when submitted in open access mode. Researchers are therefore very strongly encouraged to do this.

For this purpose, the French Digital Republic Act authorises researchers to deposit the postprint (the final accepted version) of articles in open archives with a maximum embargo period of 6 months for a journal in Science, Technology and Medicine, irrespective of the contract signed with the publisher. Furthermore, researchers may still make the preprint (the latest version submitted) accessible immediately.

So remember to deposit your preprints or postprints in open archives to increase your visibility!