The effect of using ORCID iD on improving the visibility and retrieval of Arab University publications

Abstract ORCID iD is a unique author identifier that solves the challenges of identifying authors and attributing their scientific production. Some studies have suggested that adopting ORCID iD may enhance the visibility and discoverability of publications. However, these assumptions have not been empirically investigated. Therefore, this study examines the potential effect of including an ORCID iD in Web of Science metadata on publication visibility, retrievability, and scholarly impact. The analysis focused on the literature produced by Arab universities and indexed in the Web of Science database between 2019 and 2023, yielding a dataset of 569,038 publications. The propensity score matching (PSM) analysis was employed to control for selection bias and confounding, using 17 covariates. The results of the PSM analysis reveal significant positive effects ( P < 0.001) of ORCID iD availability on both publication usage and citation counts. These findings suggest that ORCID iD contributes positively to increasing the visibility, retrieval, and impact of publications by increasing their usage and citation. The findings will help researchers and universities enhance the visibility and retrieval of their publications and improve their citations.