Institutions face growing expectations to demonstrate the reach, influence, and value of their research. Persistent identifiers (e.g., ORCIDs, RORs, DOIs) form an essential, interconnected infrastructure that enables accurate attribution, interoperability, and machine‑actionable insight across research systems. PID metadata allow institutions to reliably connect people, organizations, and outputs, supporting richer impact narratives and reducing administrative burden.
This session presents a focused framework for catalyzing PID adoption by empowering campus PID champions who bridge local workflows, departmental needs, and institutional strategy. Drawing on community insights from various PID initiatives, we highlight practical steps to strengthen cross-unit collaboration, integrate PIDs into existing systems, and improve research information quality.
Attendees will learn how to identify, activate, and support PID champions; integrate PIDs into workflows; and craft stronger institutional impact stories grounded in high‑quality, connected metadata.
PIDs play a foundational role in today’s research information ecosystem. ORCIDs uniquely identify researchers, linking them to affiliations, funding, and scholarly outputs; DOIs provide durable identifiers for publications, datasets, software, and a wide range of research outputs; and RORs offer consistent identification for research organizations. Together, these identifiers create machine‑actionable connections that facilitate attribution, interoperability, and improved evaluation of institutional research activity.
As expectations for transparency, FAIR practices, and impact reporting increase, institutions must consider the role of PIDs in supporting these goals. However, campus adoption is often siloed, limiting shared approaches to documenting relationships among projects, outputs, people, and organizations. Ensuring consistent PID adoption requires community-based leadership, sustainable governance, and practical integration into workflows. This session provides a pathway for institutions to catalyze campus-level change through a PID Activation Framework built around a three-part strategy:
1. Build Shared Understanding Through Campus PID Champions
Campus PID champions like librarians, research administrators, faculty leaders, IT partners, and data stewards play an important role in socializing PID value, supporting PID use and adoption, and shaping local governance. We will discuss characteristics of effective champions, how to identify them, and how to empower them with training, communication and capacity building resources from PID providers, and institutional support.
2. Embed PIDs into Key Systems and Workflows
Embedding PIDs into CRIS platforms, repositories, grant management systems, and faculty reporting dramatically improves data accuracy and reduces administrative burden. ORCID, ROR, and DOIs facilitate consistent metadata flow, enabling reliable attribution and transparent tracking of research contributions. We present practical integration points and examples of incremental changes campuses can implement without requiring major infrastructure investments.
3. Enhance Impact Narratives through PID‑Connected Metadata
PIDs strengthen evaluation and storytelling by connecting diverse research activities, including datasets, software, and community-engaged scholarship, and to researchers and institutions. Well-structured project metadata supports discoverability and helps institutions articulate nuanced, comprehensive impact narratives. We will explore how to leverage this metadata to tell your impact stories.
Session Takeaways
By the end of the session, attendees will:
Understand how PIDs work together to support accurate attribution and institutional evaluation.
Learn how to identify and activate campus PID champions.
Gain a starter roadmap for integrating PIDs into institutional workflows and be introduced to resources to support workflows.
Be able to articulate how PID‑connected metadata improves impact visibility and research storytelling.
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Kristi Holmes, PhD, is a leader in knowledge management, FAIR data, and research impact at Northwestern University. She is Associate Dean for Knowledge Management and Strategy and Director of the Galter Health Sciences Library and Learning Center. She directs Informatics and Data Science within NUCATS and co‑leads its strategic management, and she serves as Chief of Knowledge Management in the Institute for Artificial Intelligence in Medicine. Her research focuses on improving information access, supporting data‑driven discovery, and addressing emerging issues in AI and research. She is dedicated to shared knowledge ecosystems and evidence‑based approaches that strengthen transparency, collaboration, and research impact across the scientific community.