A key challenge for researchers is keeping track of project activities across the research lifecycle. Unlike a grant, which a researcher receives, a project is something that a researcher does. Project information is dynamic; what is planned is not necessarily what is delivered, while project contributors and organizations may change over time. RAiD, the ‘Research Activity Identifier, is a unique, persistent identifier (PID) for research projects and activities designed in accordance with the RAiD ISO standard (23527:2022). The new RAiD DataCite Consortium will help organizations and researchers track their projects and associated research outputs.
The RAiD – DataCite Consortium
In March 2024, DataCite and ARDC announced a partnership to deliver the RAiD service. The partnership was entered into to ensure scalability, cost-efficiency for individual RAiD Registration Agencies (RAs), alignment with RAiD’s aspirations, simplified integration into the PID ecosystem, and a straightforward transition for existing projects with DataCite DOIs to become RAiDs.
We are happy to share that RAiD, represented by ARDC, has now joined DataCite as a Consortium. This means that RAiD, working through RAiD RAs, can use the DataCite infrastructure to register RAiDs within the structure of the RAiD DataCite Consortium.
Each RAiD RA operates an instance of the RAiD service for a particular region or constituency. RAiD RAs will be part of the Consortium and use DataCite services to register DOIs as RAiD identifiers, and submit a core subset of RAiD metadata to DataCite. The full metadata record, tailored to the requirements of research project tracking, is stored in the RAiD service. Individual RAiD services are then federated into the global RAiD system. This architecture will not only yield a robust and scalable global system, but will produce a seamless experience for RAiD users. RAiDs are expressed in the form of https://raid.org/prefix/suffix, resolvable through the RAiD portal operated by the ARDC at https://raid.org/.
How is a RAiD different?
RAiD has been designed from the ground up as a project identifier and global project registry. Through the partnership, RAiD utilizes DataCite DOIs for its identifiers, although RAiD is a separate system. This system has a metadata schema designed specifically for projects, which can also be extended by RAiD Registration Agencies to support particular regions or domains. A subset of core RAiD metadata is submitted to DataCite as part of the registration process. One benefit of the partnership is that RAiD identifiers are integrated into the DataCite PID Graph and have project dashboards (see example). Beyond an identifier and associated metadata, RAiD offers a service for managing project information. This service facilitates access to RAiDs by multiple authenticated users, so that researchers, research administrators, and other trusted parties can be allowed to edit any given RAiD. Researchers who are listed as ‘contributors’, moreover, confirm their identity and participation via an ORCID authentication. This approach establishes a trusted relationship between the RAiD project record and the researcher’s ORCID (confirming the contributor’s identity, affirming participation in the project, and allowing automated updates between the two systems). RAiD also recognises the dynamic nature of projects, automatically creating a project’s change history and providing tools to interact with it. Finally, RAiD generates and resolves to a standardized landing page. Taken together, RAiD’s services, metadata schema, and community advocacy add significant value for projects.
Getting started with RAiD registration
If your organization would like to offer RAiDs for projects, you can get started immediately by emailing contact@raid.org. More information about how to start using RAiDs is available on the RAiD website under ‘Get RAiD now’.
Natasha Simons
Shawn Ross
