2026-10-29 –, LUMC05
During a large author affiliation data coding project of academic publications in Flanders, it was discovered that one third of the mentioned organizations were not included in the global reference database, the Research Organization Registry (ROR). The coding could only be completed by adding new organizations to a local copy of ROR. This tool evolved into a new instrument: the Flemish Organization Registry, creating additional unique identification codes for all organizations involved in research in Flanders and enabling the connection of publication, project and government databases on an organizational level. This presentation zooms in on this project, demonstrating how to extend a global (organization) database with a local dimension.
Did you ever run out of identifiers when using global databases for data coding purposes? It happened to us while assigning organization identification codes in an extensive author affiliation data collection project. And it gave us ideas for another exciting initiative. Here’s the story.
In the past few years, the Flemish R&D Monitoring Centre (ECOOM) collected and registered author affiliation data of Flemish SSH publications not included in the Web of Science, using the Research Organization Registry (ROR) as tool for organization identification. However, we experienced that one third of the affiliated organizations were not included in ROR, the global reference database. In order to complete the registration of our affiliations, we added a further 2,000 organizations to a local copy of ROR and coded them according to the ROR data model.
This issue created an opportunity: we now disposed of a platform allowing the structural mapping of a much broader arsenal of organizations involved in research in Flanders, irrespective of their inclusion in ROR or their importance on a global scale. Our ‘ROR+’-database morphed into the Flemish Organization Registry (FOR). FOR aims to provide PIDs and metadata of Flemish organizations mentioned on author affiliations, in project descriptions or other databases. These new PIDs can be used as identification tool in publication and project databases, in CRIS systems etc. Just like ROR, but for organizations with a first and foremost national relevance.
The instrument is created via a step-by-step approach. After the consultation of multiple stakeholders we received several organization lists that are commonly used by actors in the broader Flemish scientific landscape (government entities, universities, funding agencies etc.). These lists with research organizations, educational institutions, organizations receiving EU Funding etc. form the foundations of FOR. In a second phase, organizations appearing in these lists are disambiguated and integrated in our expanded copy of ROR, during which they receive a new FOR ID, before being extended with metadata compatible with the ROR data model. In the end, FOR will consist of a full copy of ROR plus all other organizations involved in research in Flanders, all disposing of a FOR ID. In a final stage, data will be publicly released; FOR-only organizations that might have a relevance beyond Flanders will be transferred tot ROR.
Apart from the creation of a single PID for more organizations, FOR also wants to connect other relevant PIDs. We focus in particular on four specific identifiers: the ROR ID (if available), the identifier in the Belgian Enterprise Registry, the EU Participant Identification Code and the Wikidata identifier of an organization. They are important keys to Belgian, European and international databases with relevant data.
FOR will be publicly available at https://www.flemishorganizationregistry.be and is already being used by two services via an API.
In the presentation about FOR, you will learn about how to extend a global organization database with a local dimension, in order to capture all organizations involved in research in a certain geographic region.
