ResearcherID

ResearcherID was a proprietary online service designed to create unique researcher identification numbers. Developed by Thomson Reuters Scientific, it aimed to solve the problem of author name ambiguity in scholarly publications. Researchers were assigned a unique alphanumeric identifier, which they could then link to their published works. This system helped to ensure that citations and metrics were correctly attributed to the intended author, especially for researchers with common names or those who used different variations of their name throughout their career.

The service allowed researchers to compile a bibliography of their publications, track their citation counts, and discover potential collaborators. It was integrated with other scholarly databases, facilitating easier discovery of research output. Researchers could also use their ResearcherID to endorse the expertise of their peers, adding another layer of professional networking and verification. While widely used, it was a commercial product, and access to its full features often required institutional subscriptions. In recent years, the landscape of researcher identification has shifted, with the rise of open-source alternatives like ORCID. Thomson Reuters Scientific later divested its intellectual property and professional services business, which included ResearcherID, to Clarivate Analytics.