Due to digitization, data collection, and data processing – including the use of AI – it is becoming increasingly difficult to control the dissemination and ensure the accuracy and quality of data. When information from fields such as science, art, literature, music, film, and others is publicly shared, details about authorship are often lost or become unclear. For instance, in the case of identical names, it may no longer be possible to determine exactly who is responsible for a particular publication.
Contributor identifiers help clearly attribute contributorship and counteract this trend. The International Standard Name Identifier (ISNI) and the Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID) make it possible to uniquely link contributors with a works or other relevant information.
What Is the difference between an ISNI and an ORCID?
ISNI is a global standard number (ISO 27729) used to identify contributors to works in fields such as science, music, literature, visual arts, publishing, and more. ISNI is applied across various industries. In addition to its use by publishers and libraries, ISNI is widely adopted in the music industry, which has led platforms like YouTube to integrate it as well. An ISNI can be assigned to organizations, persons, or even pseudonyms. The registration of an ISNI is not necessarily carried out by the creators themselves. Under certain conditions, third parties – such as publishers – can register an ISNI on behalf of the creator. Learn more.
ORCID is used to uniquely identify academic authors and researchers. It is primarily supported by scholarly publishers, some of which have made ORCID mandatory. Registering for an ORCID is free of charge. Only persons, not pseudonyms, can be registered, and the registration must be completed by the creator personally. Publishers cannot register on behalf of authors, which limits its practicality for them. Researchers have a strong interest in using ORCID to clearly associate their publications with their identity. You can find a link to register for an ORCID below. Learn more.
Benefits of contributor identifiers for you as a creator
The clear identification of your works is not only relevant for databases, it directly concerns you as a creator. Take advantage of the many benefits that contributor identifiers offer in practical use across the market.
Increase your visibility
Contributor identifiers help promote the dissemination of your works. Search functions deliver better results when they can clearly distinguish between different creators who may share similar or identical names. As a result, contributor identifiers provide a foundation for SEO optimization as well as for AI and Semantic Web applications that improve navigation in the book market.
Using contributor identifiers makes it possible to automatically generate overview pages where all your works can be found at a glance. This opens up new opportunities for you as a creator to gain visibility in online retail—beyond bestseller lists and major publishing programs.
Stay connected with your audience
In addition to your works, information such as events, videos, and social media can be linked through contributor identifiers. This consolidation strengthens your personal brand as a creator and further enhances the visibility and quality of information available to your target audiences.
Features like “Follow the author” also enable automatic notifications to customers – for example, about new releases, promotions, or events.
Maintain control over your personal information
Contributor identifiers help you, as a creator, manage and control the information published about you. In the absence of such identifiers, missing or incorrectly attributed works and data may go unnoticed. If you already have an ISNI, you can use tools like the ISNI search function provided by MVB to see which of your works – across multiple publishers – are already linked to your ISNI in the VLB (Verzeichnis Lieferbarer Bücher). You can also verify the accuracy of other information associated with your ISNI and ensure its correctness.
Actively control the visibility of your pseudonym
ISNI also allows works and related information to be linked to pseudonyms. Instead of a real person or organization, a fictional identity can be assigned to an ISNI. This enables clear attribution of authorship while keeping it separate from you as a natural person – allowing you to remain out of the public eye if you choose.
Benefit from optimized royalty distribution
Contributor identifiers also play a role in the distribution of royalties. Their use can help optimize payouts by collecting societies. Clear attribution of contributorship ensures that royalties are correctly distributed to the individuals who are truly entitled to them.
Use of ISNI and ORCID in practice
To fulfill their purpose, ISNI and ORCID are publicly accessible and can be used free of charge. The databases primarily serve to store registration data. They are not intended to collect comprehensive information about you as a registered author. The goal is to link an ISNI or ORCID to sufficient identifying features that allow for the clear attribution of contributorship. Using the ISNI search by MVB, the ISNI search of the ISNI International Agency, or the ORCID search, you can browse the respective databases for entries and view the results.
ISNI and ORCID in the VLB
Any standard is only as good as its adoption. That’s why ISNI and ORCID play an important role in ensuring data quality in the VLB (Verzeichnis Lieferbarer Bücher). ISNI and ORCID each have different advantages and disadvantages, depending on the areas of publishing in which they are used. Whether ISNI or ORCID is the better author ID for you is a decision you make together with your publisher. In the VLB, both author IDs are treated equally and can also be used in parallel.
To promote the adoption of these standards, MVB, in cooperation with the copyright collective VG WORT and the German National Library, carried out ISNI registration for over 700,000 authors. The registration was based on catalog data from the German National Library. Only previously published information was used for the registration. If you have already been assigned an ISNI, you can find it using the search function of the ISNI service by MVB.
Registration and Data Protection
An ISNI can be registered either by you personally or by a third party with appropriate authorization through the ISNI registration service provided by MVB, for a one-time service fee. In addition to persons, organizations and pseudonyms can also receive an ISNI. A pseudonym can be linked to one or more natural persons, but this is not required. This makes it possible to assign an ISNI to a secret pseudonym while protecting the identity of the person(s) behind it from public disclosure. If you apply for an ISNI for yourself, you decide which information you want to provide during registration. Please note that sufficient information must be provided for registration to be processed. If a third party registers an ISNI, they may only use information from publicly accessible sources or additional information provided with the consent of the person concerned.
Here you can find the terms of use for the ISNI registration service by MVB.
Here you can find MVB's privacy policy.
Here you can find the privacy policy of the ISNI International Agency.
An ORCID can only be registered by you as the author yourself, directly via the ORCID organization’s website. You decide which information you wish to provide during registration. Please note that sufficient information must be entered in order to complete the registration.
Here you can find the applicable ORCID privacy policy.
Missing, Incorrect, or Non-Public Information
If you find missing, incorrect, or information that should not be publicly available in your ISNI record, you can contact the Quality Team of the ISNI International Agency directly via the relevant entry. There, you can request the addition, correction, or deletion of information. The primary purpose of the ISNI database is to ensure clear identification, so it is not necessary to add information such as missing ISBNs. Through the ISNI search provided by MVB, you can also see which products have been assigned to your ISNI by your publishers. If any products are missing, please contact your publisher. The list should be as complete as possible to ensure you benefit fully from the advantages outlined earlier.
ORCID can only be registered by you as the author. This also allows you to manage and update your information directly through your personal account.