GRID passes the torch to ROR – FAQs

With ROR coming of age and becoming independent from GRID, Digital Science has decided to pass on the torch to ROR and retire GRID from the public space, with a last public release in Q4 of 2021. We’ve created these FAQs to help you understand how this may impact you.

GRID going forward

As ROR is seeded by GRID data, both datasets are almost identical, which makes it easy for users to transition – it is basically a 1:1 mapping. In order to support the transition all currently available releases will remain open.

Following this step, Digital Science will continue to maintain GRID and integrate changes provided via ROR, but will continue to use it for Digital Science internal use cases related to our own projects and products, for example in Dimensions, where the team may need to apply different policies than those ROR may apply.

This change simply changes the context in which GRID is used, while maintaining an open organisation identifier in the form of ROR. The change also frees up some time for the GRID team, allowing them to focus on streamlining data-driven approaches to gathering research insights, and working with the community to develop tools to enable this.

ROR going forward

Following the final public release of GRID data in September 2021, ROR will continue to be responsible for the curation and management of the ROR database, and all edits and additions should be directed to the ROR curation team. ROR will continue to support GRID IDs in its format. 

How will this impact you?

So what does this mean for you, as a current or future user of research organisation identifiers? The ROR team has prepared some basic resources on its support site to help those transitioning from GRID to ROR and will continue to expand those resources in the coming months. If you are a current GRID user and haven’t yet made contact with ROR, the GRID team would be happy to discuss how we can help make the transition to ROR easier. We will ensure that during this transition period, there will be plenty of time and opportunity to engage with the teams and find support as and when this is required for your use case.