Organizational Identifier in Germany - Results of a Survey in 2020

A persistent identifier (PID) for research organizations represents another important piece of the puzzle to promote standardization in the scholarly publication process - especially considering the already established digital object identifier (DOI) for research outputs and the ORCID ID for researchers. The use of these PIDs enables automated data flows and guarantees the permanent linking of information objects. Furthermore, PIDs are fundamental components for the implementation of Open Science. For example, when analyzing publications and costs of the Open Access transformation at an institution, the application of a PID for research organizations is crucial. In order to learn more about the status quo of the use and dissemination of organizational identifiers in Germany, a "Survey on the Need for and Use of Organizational Identifiers at Universities and Non-University Research Institutions in Germany" was conducted among 548 research institutions in Germany in the period from July 13, 2020 to December 4, 2020 as part of the DFG-funded ORCID DE project. This survey constitutes the largest survey on organizational identifiers in Germany to date; it counts 183 participating institutions. Among other things, the survey included questions on the knowledge, distribution, and use of organizational identifiers at research institutions. In addition, requirements for organizational identifiers and their metadata (e. g., relations and granularity) were queried. The present paper provides a comprehensive overview of the results of the survey conducted as part of the aforementioned project and contributes to the advancement and an increased awareness of organizational identifiers.