Identifiers for each item of data or information are essential in all computer-based systems. Computer applications use them for identifying datasets, for searching and retrieval, and for linking or connecting data. Identifiers also enable data to be a citable part of the scholarly record. To be useful, identifiers need to be persistent and unique.
ANDS provides or connects with several identifier services and also uses identifiers in ANDS systems. ANDS encourages use of identifiers for:
- research data, such as DOIs or handles;
- people and organisations, such as an ORCID ID or ISNI ID
- research projects, activities or grants, such as ANDS purl IDs for ARC and NHMRC grants.
Identifiers enable connecting data to important context surrounding the data, to add value to that data.
Identifiers for research data
Persistent identifiers (PIDs) overview
Persistent identifiers (PIDs) uniquely identify objects of any kind and need to be managed and kept current over time.
Read more:
- Persistent Identifiers Awareness Guide
- Persistent Identifiers Working Level Guide
- Persistent Identifiers Expert Level Guide
All-purpose identifiers – Handles
Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) and Data Citation
Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) uniquely identify research data collections and enable citation and citation metrics.
- Digital Object identifier (DOI)system and research data
- DOIs for data citation
- ANDS DOI Service (Cite My Data)
Identifiers for people and organisations
Common public identifiers for researchers and research organisations allow different forms of names to be linked together to support better discovery of research data collections in Research Data Australia.
Find out more about ANDS and ORCID.
Identifiers for activities and projects
Identifiers for funded projects allow linking of project descriptions to both research data collections, the projects producing the collections and relevant parties in Research Data Australia.
Identifiers for research activities allow oversight across the whole research activity and make reporting and data provenance clear and easy. RAiD (Research Activity Identifier) is a new identifier for research projects and activities and the first of the enabling technologies to be developed by the Data LifeCycle Framework Project.
Identifiers for physical samples
Unique identification of physical samples collected during the course of research will facilitate sharing of samples and sample-based data. The International Geo Sample Number (IGSN) is a unique identifier that preserves the identity of a sample even as it is moved from lab to lab and as data appear in different publications.
Read more about IGSN.
Identifiers in Research Data Australia
Research Data Australia makes extensive use of a range of identifiers. See our Content Providers Guide for advice:
Read more:
ANDS Data Connections Strategy
Persistent identifiers webinar series
This webinar series explores the use of Persistent Identifiers (PiDs) in research. This series will be of interest to anyone working in research but especially:
- Institutions who manage PiDs
- Research Data Managers
- Data Librarians.
See more information about the webinar series including recordings