Universitätsbibliothek

Open Science

Identifiers

Don't hesitate to contact us, if you have any questions.

Make yourself, your research and your publications unique with persistens identifiers - ORCID iD for you, DOI for electronic objects, ISSN for journals and ISBN for books.

ORCID

What is ORCID?

ORCID iD is a 16-digit number, which unambiguously identifies researchers and their publications irrespective of spelling and transliteration.

ORCID is a non-profit initiative supported by universities, academies, research funders, publishing houses and libraries worldwide.

Register your personal ORCID iD free of charge via orcid.org. You can add information about publications, education, jobs and funding to your profile.

Why ORCID?

  • Thanks to your ORCID iD both your research activities and your publications are more visible.
  • Academic workflows become easier and you save time because you have to make entries in fewer systems.
  • Often ORCID iDs are required when applying for funding or submitting manuscripts for publication.
  • Wherever you work, your ORCID iD stays with you throughout your career.

How to register?

You can register and connect your ORICD iD via BORIS, the institutional repository of the University of Bern. This process only takes 30 seconds.

5 steps to register your ORCID iD:

  1. Log in to BORIS
  2. Click the ORCID tab
  3. Click the button «Connect your ORCID iD»
  4. Add/choose your email-address and password
  5. Click the button «authorize» – done. Now you can directly export your publications from BORIS to ORCID or vice versa.

ISSN

The ISSN (International Standard Serial Number) is an international Standard Number which unambiguously identifies journals and other serial publications.

ISBN

What is an ISBN?

 

The ISBN (International Standard Book Number) is an international numeric identifier to uniquely identify books and other stand-alone publications.

Why an ISBN?

  • The ISBN is a unique international identifier for book publications. Assigning an ISBN avoids the use of long bibliographic descriptive records, which not only reduces copying mistakes in cataloguing, but also saves time and costs.
  • An ISBN allows different product forms and editions of a book, whether printed or digital, to be clearly differentiated.
  • The use of an ISBN increases a book's discoverability.

How to get an ISBN

If you wish to publish a book or similar work with Bern Open Publishing (BOP), please contact us at openaccess@ub.unibe.ch.  After a consultation, we will be happy to provide you with an ISBN. However, there are a few conditions that need to be fulfilled:  

  • The publication must be made available in open access
  • The publication must be licensed under a Creative Commons licence CC-BY
  • The publication has a proper imprint with all pertinent information. You can find a template here:  
Imprint Template (WORD, 17KB)

GND

What is GND?

The Integrated Authority File «GND» is the largest library authority database in the German-speaking community. It contains entities such as persons, works, corporate bodies, conferences, places and subject headings.

All entities are provided with a unique identifier, called the GND-number. In this way, they can be clearly distinguished from other entities of the same name. Additionally,it is possible to merge and assign different spelling variants, including those derived from other languages and alphabets, while further elements needed for identification (e.g. temporal or geographical references) can be stored. The GND number is recognisable by its prefix (DE-588), which is tied to a multi-digit number sequence.

Why GND?

  • For you:
    • Thanks to the GND number, your publications are more visible in library catalogues. No matter where you work, your GND number remains the same.
  • For your Digital Edition:
    • To give your Digital Edition’s TEI generated entities an internationally recognized, reliable and stable identifier that can be networked with other applications.
    • To link entities of your online platform using a GND number, e.g. to articles from the Swiss Historical Dictionary, Wikipedia, other Digital Editions or to image databases.
    • To make sure other applications can reference your Digital Edition and thus increase its visibility.

How to register for GND

Get in touch with the Open Science Team or the GND Editorial Office at Bern University Library. You can also reach us by telephone at +41 31 684 95 80.
We can assign individual GND numbers, edit your GND entry and create new GND records for your Digital Edition, even in large quantities.