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Curator Evaluation Workflow: New Records
Overview: evaluating new organizations for ROR
Check 1. Is the organization already in ROR?
Check 2. Is this a real organization?
Check 3. Is this organization in scope for ROR?
Checklist for evaluating new organizations
Guidance for evaluating common organization types
Templates for frequently used comments
In evaluating requests to add a new organization to ROR, there are three key things to check as part of the review process:
- Is it already in ROR?
- Is it a real organization?
- Is it in scope (does it meet the criteria for inclusion outlined above)?
The sections below outline the basic intake approach and provide decision-making guidance.
Before reviewing the details of the request, make sure the organization is not already in ROR.
Look up the name of the organization in the front-end search interface (https://ror.org/search) and/or the ROR API (https://api.ror.org/organizations?query= Enter Organization Name Here)
If the organization does not show up immediately in search results, do another sanity check to make sure it is not entered in the registry under other versions of the name, i.e.:
- Versions of the name in multiple languages
- Acronyms
- External identifiers provided in the request such as Wikidata, ISNI, or Funder IDs.
You can also use the URL in the ROR record to help identify a match in cases where you don't find a match on the name itself.
If the organization is not already in ROR
- Proceed to the next check.
If the organization is already in ROR:
- Move the issue to the "Declined requests" column
- Apply the
already in RORlabel - Close the Github issue
In rare cases, requests may include spam or reference fictitious organizations. In some other cases, requests may be submitted for entities that are not yet established (e.g., a Kickstarter project) or that reflect a one-person project (e.g., represented via a LinkedIn or Github profile).
Verify that the organization exists by:
- Visiting the organization's website
- Googling the organization's name
- Looking up the organization in Wikipedia or Wikidata
🟢 If you can confirm this is a real organization:
- Proceed to the next check.
❓ If you aren't sure:
- Move the issue to the "Needs discussion" column on the Github project board.
Investigate the nature of the organization and the research it is involved in. The main question to address is whether the organization meets ROR's definition of "research organization," which is "any organization that conducts, produces, manages, or touches research."
Go through the checklist for evaluating new organizations below in order to gather sufficient information to make a decision.
🟢 If you can answer "Yes" to most or all of the questions below:
- Approve the request. Add a comment to the Github issue summarizing your recommendation, and move the Github issue to the next appropriate column on the project board.
- If you identified additional metadata about the organization not already included in the request (i.e., a Wikidata ID not previously provided), add it to the Github issue.
🔶 If the results are mixed or if you have doubts or questions:
- Check the guidance for evaluating common organization types below.
❓ If you still have doubts or questions:
- Move the issue to the "Needs discussion" column on the Github project board and explain your reasoning in a Github comment.
🟥 If you determine the organization is not in scope:
- Explain your reasoning in a Github comment and move the issue to the "Ready for sign-off" column.
| Question | Guidance |
|---|---|
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Check publications on organization website, or search Google Scholar, Crossref, or other indexes. Preprint and other forms of pending publication may be considered, but credibility of the venue and the publication history of authors should be taken into account. Newly-formed organizations should have research outputs in established publications, vs. those that are also newly established. Where no evidence of affiliation usage or funding activities exist, organizations may be added on a case-by-case basis, so long as they meet other of the criteria listed here AND are state-backed/sponsored or have other, legitimate forms of accreditation. |
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Check staff profiles and publications on website, LinkedIn, or other sites. |
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Check for funding acknowledgements in the Crossref Funder registry or free text acknowledgements in published research outputs. |
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A subdomain will not necessarily rule the organization out of inclusion, but further investigation may be needed. |
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It may be helpful to find other records in ROR for similar organizations. |
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The organization should be comprised of more than one person with corresponding affiliation usage. Small organizations should appear to be growing. |
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Lack of a statement does not imply lack of ownership but if a statement is present, it can be helpful for evaluating the status of the organization and its relationship to other entities. |
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The organization should be premised on long-term stability, i.e., not a grant or other term-limited project). |
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If the organization has multiple parents, it may benefit from a having its own ID so it can be independently identified. |
| Type of organization | Guidance | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| University medical center/hospital | Add to ROR (separate record from main university ID) | Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center (https://ror.org/04k3jt835) |
| University medical school | Out of scope for ROR, except in cases where the medical school has a care component operating independently from its parent organization and has staff serving exclusively in this capacity | |
| Research center or institute based at a university | Add to ROR if: publishing & using that affiliation, have separate funding source(s), dedicated staff, multiple parents, funding, use, or resource acknowledgements from other organizations, was previously independent or part of other organizations, and/or have standalone (separate from parent organization) website and branding. | NCEAS (UC Santa Barbara (https://ror.org/0146z4r19) |
| Museum that is part of a university | Add to ROR if: they are producing research and the museum is used as an affiliation. | UC Berkeley Museum of Vertebrate Zoology (https://ror.org/01rdg4502) |
| Library that is part of a university | Add to ROR if: library is separate non-campus-based unit. Otherwise, map to primary ROR ID for university. | California Digital Library (https://ror.org/03yrm5c26) |
| University press | Add to ROR if: used or required as a separate affiliation for publications or grants, maintains a separate website and branding, publishes authors outside its parent organization, and/or has independent funding sources. | Cambridge University Press (https://ror.org/03jsdjx34) New York University Press (https://ror.org/01rz15025) |
| Natural area that is part of a university | Add to ROR if: they are producing research and the natural area is used as an affiliation. | Arnold Arboretum Harvard University (https://ror.org/05xsxgs79) |
| National park | Add to ROR if: they are producing research and the park is used as an affiliation. | Yosemite National Park Grand Teton National Park (https://ror.org/00vpxf870) |
| Corporate research consultancy | Add to ROR if: they are producing and publishing research. | Mountain Data Group (https://ror.org/01sah3s84) Dragonfly Data Science (https://ror.org/00jsnkt88) |
| Environmental monitoring group/project | Add to ROR if: they are producing or publishing research and it is an established, long-term project (already collecting data, not just a funded project). | Hummingbird Monitoring Network (https://ror.org/03kdbx663) |
| Sub-level government agency, office, organization | Add to ROR if: a funding office, used as an affiliation, is a research facility, or is a government repository. If a request does not come from the requesting agency, confirm with the agency how it should be represented. | NIST Center for Neuron Research (https://ror.org/05qgcra83) |
| Journal | Do not add to ROR if: individual journal (ISSN is the appropriate identifier for journals). |
While publishers of research literature are in scope for ROR, because almost any entity can act as a publisher, the organizations should be additionally evaluated across several axes:
- Discrete organizations: Publishers should be discrete organizations, preferably with corresponding legal status and staff. Publisher imprints or other types of sub-units should be identified with the ROR IDs for their parent organizations.
- Extent of publications: Publishers should have evidence of publication activities across time and including many works. For serial publications, ideally publishers should have evidence of having published more than one serial, however long-standing publishers of individual serials may qualify on a case-by-case basis, relative to all other factors or scope considerations.
- Persistent identification: Publishers should ideally demonstrate persistent identification of their works, such as registering articles with DOIs, ARKs, or similar identifiers. Explicitly, requesting a ROR ID for use in publishing workflows can demonstrate this intent and should be weighed against evidence of similar efforts by the publisher (e.g. the integration of other PIDs, such as ORCID IDs for authors).
- Editorial staff: Publishers should have multiple editors, staff or outside contributors to their management.
- Published authors: Publishers should publish works by more than one author or a small number of authors.
- External indexing: Published works should ideally have external indexing in services like DOAJ, open or commercial research aggregators, or national-level services.
- Ethics: Publishers should demonstrate review procedures and a commitment to research integrity and ethical publishing practices, as demonstrated by adherence to the principles outlined by COPE or similar standards.
This appears to be an organization that [describe what the organization does]. It does not appear to be involved in research. I am unable to locate research associated with this organization. Determination: This organization is not in scope because it is not considered a research organization under ROR's criteria.
This appears to be a child/subsidiary unit of [insert name of organization/existing ROR ID]. Research associated with this organization references the parent entity. Determination: The existing parent ROR ID should be used. It is not within scope to create a separate ROR ID at this level.
This appears to be a newly established organization that is not yet producing research. It should be included in ROR once it is more established and more actively producing research. Determination: We will revisit this request at a later point.
This appears to be an organization that [describe what the organization does]. It is not already in ROR. It is in scope for ROR because it:
- is an established organization
- is a top-level organization and not a subsidiary unit
- is associated with research publications and/or other activities [Add additional comments about the domain, copyright, relationship to other organizations, etc., as needed] Similar records in ROR: [insert ROR IDs of similar records if needed]