A guide to persistent identifiers and why they are important for researchers.
What Are Persistent Identifiers (PIDs)?
According to the NNLM Data Glossary, a persistent identifier is “a string of letters and numbers used to distinguish between and locate different objects, people, or concepts.” These identifiers are easily machine operable, meaning that they can be easily parsed by computers. PIDs are also known as digital persistent identifiers (DPIs), global unique identifiers (GUIDs), or persistent unique identifiers.
PID is a new name for a concept that has been around for a long time. For example, ISBNs and ISSNs (used to distinguish books and journals, respectively) have long been in use among publishers and booksellers. However, the use of persistent identifiers by researchers is relatively new.
Common persistent identifiers for research works, tools, grants, organizations, funders,
and scientists. (Source)
Why Are Persistent Identifiers Important?
Have you ever searched Google Scholar for one researcher, only to get results for another researcher with the same name? Or have you tried to find a book and discovered there are a number of books with similar titles? Then you understand the need for a system of disambiguation. PIDs ensure that you can reference a particular work or object with no confusion.
PIDs can also be used to form a network of linked data. When you use PIDs, you can easily find all other objects associated with that PID. For example:
This flowchart shows how researchers (identified using ORCIDs) are connected to works (identified using DOIs) and cell lines (identified using RRIDs). The use of PIDs builds up a network that can connect you to future collaborators, help you find related articles, or allow you to see who in your organization has used a particular tool.
Related Articles
How to Use a Research Organization Registry (ROR) ID
A Guide to Research Resource Identifiers (RRIDs)
A Guide to Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs)
Sources
Exner, Nina. “Digital Persistent IDentifiers – PIDs: Home.” VCU Libraries, November 27, 2023. https://guides.library.vcu.edu/c.php?g=1145115&p=8357741.
Henke, Nancy. “The Power of Persistent Identifiers in Data Sharing.” Iowa University Libraries (blog), March 7, 2023. https://blog.lib.uiowa.edu/news/2023/03/07/the-power-of-persistent-identifiers-in-data-sharing/.
Long, Jesse. “Persistent Identifiers: Introduction to Persistent Identifiers.” National Transportation Library, June 21, 2022. https://transportation.libguides.com/persistent_identifiers/introduction.
National Center for Data Services. “Persistent Unique Identifier.” NNLM. Accessed December 4, 2023. https://www.nnlm.gov/guides/data-glossary/persistent-unique-identifier.