ORCID offers several APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) that allow your systems to connect to the ORCID registry, including reading from and writing to ORCID records. Some API functions are freely available to anyone; others are only available to ORCID member organizations, which also benefit from email and webinar support from our Community team. We encourage all organizations using ORCID - members and non-members - to join our API Users Group, where you can ask questions and learn about new technical developments.
A basic chart of the differences between the ORCID APIs is set out below. A more in-depth chart is available at our membership information page, which sets out benefits including reporting.
API types & features
API |
Features |
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Member API |
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Premium Member API |
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The ORCID APIs are RESTful
The ORCID APIs are RESTful and use OAuth 2.0, a well-established, standard protocol for user-based permissions.
REST
The ORCID APIs are RESTful in that they use a base URL and standard HTTP methods to exchange data. For a reference to the HTTP calls used in the ORCID APIs, see the ORCID API Calls in our GitHub. (Note: Our GitHub examples include calls for all ORCID APIs. The public API will only be able to use the calls to read and search information on the ORCID Registry.)
If you're new to REST, you may want to watch the video What is REST? and other tutorials available from Rest API Tutorial.
OAuth 2.0
OAuth 2.0 is an authorization protocol which is used in many web applications. For more information about how ORCID APIs use OAuth, see our OAuth information pages.