Different databases can have different identification numbers for the same author. Combine this with the fact that different databases may have different publications and different citing articles within it, and you create the opportunity for missed citations. This greatly improves the chance for the value of your h-index to be negatively affected.
Researcher profiles and IDs can be used to:
There are platforms that allow you to create and maintain your researcher profiles:
ORCID iD - enables you to obtain a unique 16 digit identification number that can be used to tie you to your work. ORCID iD enables data exchange across multiple systems of institutions like Electronic Research Administration (eRA) at UCT, publisher platform, funding organizations and discovery and profile systems including Scopus and Web of Science. Make sure to allow data exchange between systems by following '
Connect to ORCID' promptings provided to ensure accurate reflection of your work in all systems.
Scopus Author Identifier - creates an Author Profile with an associated Author Identifier, and associates you with the publications that you have authored. Allows you to request changes when you notice inaccuracies in your Author Profile. Scopus also provides the Scopus2Orcid option as a way to link your Author Identifier information with your ORCiD identification number.
Web of Science Researcher Profile - add publications that you have authored to a free profile that you create. You can then find your h-index based on these publications.
Google Scholar Citations Profile - allows you to create a profile, search Google Scholar for articles you have published, and find your h-index based on the list of publications you create.
Semantic Scholar - search for your name and claim the appropriate profile. Once you make sure the all your publications are included then you can use the provided h-index.
arXiv Author ID - open access repository (Physics, Mathematics, Computer Science, Quantitative Biology, Quantitative Finance & Statistics).
Academia.edu - allows one to create a profile, share papers and get analytics on the profile and papers.
For more details also see: http/libguides.lib.uct.ac.za/tracking_your_academic_footprint/research-id
Many authors have similar names. Scopus Author Identifier functionality distinguishes between these names by assigning each author in Scopus a unique number and grouping together all of the documents written by that author.
This feature is especially useful for distinguishing between authors who share very common names like Smith or Wang or Lee.
Additionally, author names in Scopus can be formatted differently. For example, the same author could appear in one document as Lewis, M; in another as Lewis, M.J; and in another as Lewis, Michael. Scopus Author Identifier functionality matches the documents of this author and groups these name variants together, so that authors, even if cited differently, are identified with their specific papers.
This helps you find and recognize an author, despite variations in name spelling.
Useful Tip:
Find your profile or register yourself in the researcher index associated with the database.