The National Information Standards Organization (NISO) has announced the approval of a new Working Group dedicated to crafting a national Persistent Identifier (PID) strategy for the United States. This initiative aims to create an ANSI/NISO standard that will enhance the adoption of PIDs and bolster support for open research.
Persistent Identifiers, or PIDs, are essential to the infrastructure of scholarly communication and open research. They facilitate research discovery, support accurate citation, and enable efficient identification of authors and institutions, linking them to their research outputs. Additionally, PIDs help ensure compliance with increasing government and funder mandates promoting open scholarship. Despite their importance, the adoption of PIDs has been uneven, and there is a lack of coordinated strategies and guidance for improving PID implementation across the US research landscape.
The decision to form this Working Group follows the release of a report by the Open Research Funders Group in March 2024, titled “Developing a US National PID Strategy.” This report, building on efforts initiated by the Research Data Alliance, underscored the urgent need for a cohesive strategy to promote PID adoption, integrate them into research workflows, and provide support for PID infrastructure.
NISO’s Working Group will address these needs by developing a comprehensive standard that advances the use of PIDs and supports open scholarship. The group will outline the advantages of PIDs, define key characteristics of effective PID systems, propose strategies for evaluating and adopting PID infrastructure, and identify gaps in current systems that necessitate the creation of new identifiers. This standard is expected to streamline interactions within the research ecosystem, reduce redundant efforts, and offer clear guidance for PID adoption.
NISO is currently seeking participants from across the information community to join the Working Group. Representatives from federal agencies, PID providers, academic libraries, publishers, and software providers are encouraged to contribute to this crucial effort. The development of this national PID strategy promises to enhance the effectiveness of research practices and support the advancement of open research initiatives nationwide.
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