Managing Your Scholarly Identity and Research Impact

Think of an ORCID iD as a digital passport for your academic career. It’s a unique, 16-digit persistent identifier that distinguishes you from every other "Dr. Smith" in the world. 💡Tip: This is arguably the single most important step you can take toward managing your scholarly presence online, so don’t skip it!

• Why it matters: It automatically links your publications, grants, and institutional affiliations to you, and shows up everywhere on the web that recognizes the ORCID iD (databases, publisher sites, etc.).
• What to do: Have your CV ready and register for a free account. Use this ID whenever you submit a manuscript to a journal.
• Want help creating your ORCID iD? Reach out to us at [email protected].

If you ever plan to apply for federal funding, SciENcv is no longer optional.

• Why it matters: Federal agencies mandate the use of standardized "Common Forms" generated specifically through SciENcv for biographical sketches and grant reporting.
• What to do: Create a SciENcv account and link your ORCID profile. This allows SciENcv to automatically pull your publication data, saving you hours of manual data entry when applying for a grant.
• Want help creating a SciENcv profile? Reach out to Heather Quinlan-Baron at [email protected].

This is the most highly-visible public profile for tracking citations.

• Why it matters: It calculates your h-index (a metric measuring both your productivity and citation impact) in real-time, making it easy to see the footprint of your work.
• What to do: Log into Google Scholar, click "My Profile," and complete the steps. Set it to "Public" so it is discoverable.

Scopus is a massive peer-reviewed abstract and citation database (available through NECO). Unlike Google Scholar, Scopus creates a profile automatically once you publish a paper indexed in their system.

• Why it matters: Because it’s automated, Scopus frequently splits a single author into multiple profiles or assigns the wrong institutional affiliation.
• What to do: Create a Scopus account. Search for your name in Scopus using the Authors tab, click on your name, and edit your profile. Connect your profile to your ORCID iD. If you see multiple profiles or incorrect info, use the Scopus Author Feedback Wizard to merge your profiles and ensure you are listed correctly.

Clarivate’s Web of Science is another database in which you can manage your author profile for free (note that NECO does not have a subscription).

• Why it matters: In addition to tracking authorship, Web of Science also tracks your peer review history (without breaking journal anonymity).
• What to do: Create an account on Web of Science, and click on Researcher Profile (the person-in-a-circle icon) on the left-hand side of the screen. (Note that it will probably tell you that your institution does not have access to this part of the site; ignore this and keep clicking on Researcher Profile.) Edit as much of the record as you can, ensuring you sync your ORCID iD as well.

The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) provides a robust online community platform for members called ARVOConnect. This is an excellent way to connect with and collaborate with like-minded colleagues.

The American Academy of Optometry (AAO) offers several special interest groups and sections (Fellow login required), many of which are specialty-based. This can be a great way to find research collaborators.

ResearchGate is often described as "Facebook for academics." It is a tool for networking, sharing clinical updates, and collaborating with researchers globally. However, it comes with a major legal warning: NEVER upload the final publisher-generated PDF (the "Version of Record") of your articles to ResearchGate.

Doing so violates the copyright agreement you signed with the journal publisher, and publishers actively issue takedown notices for these files. Instead, use ResearchGate to share the link to the official article, or post an abstract. If (and only if) a publisher allows it, you may upload your "post-print" (the final peer-reviewed manuscript text before the journal's final formatting).

When you create an account on journal’s editorial platform, you aren't just starting a draft for a submission; you are adding yourself to the journal's database of clinical experts. Here is how to make the most of it:

Step 1: Register as a “reviewer”

When you fill out a profile on your selected journals’ editorial/author portals, the form will usually ask for your roles. Be sure to check the boxes for both Author and Reviewer. Checking "Reviewer" signals to the editorial team that you are available for invitations.

Step 2: Treat the keyword section like an ad for your expertise

This is the most critical step. Editors look for reviewers by typing keywords into their database backend.

• Avoid generic terms like "optometry" or "vision science."
• Use highly specific keywords that reflect your clinical practice or residency training (e.g., "scleral lens fitting," "myopia progression control," "diabetic retinopathy screening," or "optometric clinical education").

Step 3: Connect your ORCID iD

During the registration process, almost every journal’s editorial/author portal will give you a button to "Fetch or Validate your ORCID iD." Click it. This authenticates your account and allows the journal's system to see your institutional affiliation with NECO, instantly boosting your credibility with the editorial board.

Approach established colleagues or mentors who are already heavily active on editorial boards. Let them know you are looking to start reviewing.

When they receive a review invitation, they can ask the editor for permission to co-review it with you. You read the paper, draft the critique together, and both of you receive official credit for the review in systems like Web of Science.

Several major scientific publishers offer free, 1-to-2-hour online courses that teach you exactly how to evaluate a biomedical manuscript.

• Web of Science Academy offers several courses relating to peer reviewing.
• Wiley Researcher Academy also has many free courses on becoming a peer reviewer.
• If you prefer to read, Springer Nature’s How to peer review guide is text-based.
• Additional peer reviewing tutorials can be found on the EQUATOR (Enhancing the QUAlity and Transparency Of health Research) Network.