Introduction to Systematic Reviews

Research Guides

The Lane Library has created a number of research guides to help you with the research process. 

Reference Management Software

Reference management tools help you collect, manage, cite, and share bibliographic references. These tools can be used to automatically generate both in-text citations and bibliographies, organize PDFs, and share references between team members. Lane Library recommends Zotero, which can be downloaded and used free of charge, for most users.

 

Reference Management Software helps you:

  • Save time
  • Stay organized
  • Easily save references from databases and the web
  • Create citations automatically
  • Quickly change citation styles

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Zotero is a free reference manager produced by the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University. Notable features include web browser integration, online syncing, generation of in-text citations, footnotes, and bibliographies, as well as integration with the word processors like  Microsoft Word and Google Docs.

Lane Library recommends using the Zotero desktop client alongside the Zotero connector, a bookmarklet that will allow you to save materials from the web to Zotero in a single click as well as Zotfile, a free plugin that automatically renames and manages PDFs and other attachments.


EndNote is a reference manager produced by Clarivate Analytics. If you routinely work on large evidence synthesis projects and use certain features within Covidence, Endnote may be preferable to other reference management options.

A limited version of Endnote is available as part of Lane Library's subscription to Web of Science, but the standalone version must be purchased through the Stanford Bookstore.

Persistent Identifiers (PIDs)

What is a Persistent Identifier (PID)?

A PID is a unique, long-lasting digital identification code to an object (e.g. publications, data, software, etc.), person (e.g. researcher, author, contributor, etc.), or organization (e.g. funder, institution, etc.). It remains constant and reliable even if the location or web address changes. A PID may be connected to a set of metadata describing the object, person, or organization. Commonly, ORCID iD is used as a PID for people, and DOIs for publications and various research outputs.

What is an ORCID iD?

ORCID iDs are increasingly used across different research workflows and organizations as a persistent identifier for a person. An ORCID is a unique and persistent identifier to identify, link and discover researchers, authors, contributors etc much like a Social Security Number (SSN). ORCID allows individuals to register a unique PID which can be used to manage research outputs and scholarly workflows.

How to use an ORCID iD?

Your ORCID iD can be used throughout the research process, such as when a researcher applies for a grant or award, writes a data management plan, deposits a dataset into a repository, publishes a journal article, and attends a conference. You can also link it with other IDs (see below) such as your Stanford Profiles, and list it on your CVs, resumes, web pages, email signatures, and other public profiles. 

For more information on ORCID, visit the ORCID guide

Other PIDs for People

  • Scopus ID for authors with publications in Scopus
  • Google Scholar Profiles for authors and groups registered with Google Scholar Profiles

For more information on PIDs for people, visit the Research Impact guide

What is a Digital Object Identifier (DOI)?

DOIs are the most widely known and used PIDs for research outputs, such as journal articles, conference proceedings, preprints, protocols, datasets, etc. DOIs are different from URLs because DOIs are designed to be persistent and stable in identifying the object on the web. It provides lasting information on where objects can be found on the internet. Over time, a URL might become a dead link because the web address might change or disappear. 

Since a DOI never changes, it aids in citation tracking (e.g measures where research is being used and referenced), increases data sharing and reuse (e.g. makes information discoverable) and becomes part of a repository, journal, database, and other scholarly workflows. 

 

How to get a DOI?

DOIs are provided by DataCite, CrossRef, and other DOI registration agencies, coordinated by the International DOI Foundation (IDF). It is assigned to an object that is to be shared with a community and/or managed as intellectual property. 

The Stanford Digital Repository (SDR) offers DOI services to Stanford affiliates. Depositing to the SDR is not required to receive a DOI. For more information, visit https://library.stanford.edu/dois-digital-object-identifier

For datasets or unpublished works (including preprints):

  • Upload your work to a repository that provides DOIs.
  • Examples: DRYAD (datasets), CORE (humanities), bioRxiv (reprints), arXiv (preprints), OSF (science disciplines), Zenodo (multidisciplinary)

Visit the Data Management and Sharing guide to learn more. 

For published work:

  • Most publishers provide DOIs upon publication. If they don't, consider self-archiving your work in a repository if permitted by the publisher.

Can't find a DOI?

Not all publications have DOIs. If you are unable to find a DOI, you can use CrossRef or DataCite to verify whether or not a publication has one. 

Other PIDs for publications and data

  • ISBN for books 
  • ISSN for journals
  • PMID for PubMed materials

 

Distinguish Yourself with ORCID

ORCID is an alphanumeric code, kind of like a social security number, that identifies you as a contributor to scholarly work.  Lane Library and the other libraries at Stanford recommend that every Stanford-affiliated researcher claim their ORCID.


Why claim your ORCID iD?
  1. Your ORCID iD is unique to you. Not only will ORCID help distinguish you from researchers with the same or similar names, but your ORCID iD will remain the same, even if your name or affiliation changes, maintaining the connection to the work you've done.
  2. ORCID helps you demonstrate all of your contributions. Using ORCID, you can demonstrate your contributions to a wide range of scholarly works, from journal articles and book chapters to posters and presentations.
  3. ORCID helps you connect and integrate. Once you have claimed your ORCID, you can use it to log into and connect a wide variety of profile systems and other tools. For example, Dryad uses ORCID for login and both the uploader and any co-authors can add their ORCID to published datasets.
  4. It is required. A growing body of scholarly publishers and funding agencies have begun to require that researchers list their ORCID iD as part of when submitting a new proposal or work.

Contact your liaison librarian if you have any questions about setting up or using your ORCID iD. For more information about maintaining your researcher identity, see our Research Impact guide

There are a variety of ways to claim your ORCID iD and link it to your Stanford credentials. Below we've listed what we think are the most straightforward steps. If you have questions or would like to set up a consultation, please contact your liaison librarian.

Claim your ORCID iD

  1. Register for an ORCID iD on ORCID's registration page. We recommend setting your default visibility setting to "Everyone" so ORCID can help you connect to other profile systems and tools.
  2. Connect your ORCID to your Stanford credentials and authorize Stanford as a trusted organization within ORCID by visiting this authorization page and completing the necessary steps.

Add information to ORCID

  1. Add information about yourself, such as your education and place of employment.
  2. Works, such as journal articles, can be added manually or one at a time using identifiers such DOIs or PMIDs. However, we recommend adding them from another system, such as CrossRef Metadata Search, DataCite, and Europe PMC. 
  3. Remember, you can add posters, presentations, datasets, and other types of work to your ORCID profile. Show off your contributions!

Why maintain an ORCID profile when you're already maintaining similar profiles elsewhere? Because you can actually use ORCID to connect to many of these systems and share content between them!

One such system is SciENcv (Science Experts Network Curriculum Vitae), the profile system for anyone who applies for, receives, or is associated with research investments from federal agencies like NIH and NSF. Researchers can use SciENcv to create and maintain biosketches that are submitted with grant applications and annual reports.

Link your ORCID and SciENcv

  1. Log into your MyNCBI account. If you do not already have an account, you can log in using your Stanford credentials by clicking on "See more third party sign-in options" and selecting Stanford.
  2. When you see your dashboard, click on "Manage SciENcv" in the "SciENcv" box.
  3. Click "edit" in the grey box. Then complete the required information. Under "optional information", click to add your ORCID. If necessary, log into ORCID to complete the integration.
  4. Congratulations! You will now be able to pull from your ORCID profile to populate SciENcv documents!

For more information, see this video from NCBI or contact your liaison librarian 

In addition to profile systems like SciENcv, ORCID also integrates with a variety of other research-related tools giving you essentially a single sign and enabling you to share information about your contributions throughout your research toolchain. Below we've highlighted some tools that connect with ORCID that are widely used at Stanford Medicine.


Dryad, the open data repository, requires ORCID iDs for login. Once you've logged in and published a dataset through Dryad, you can be added to your ORCID profile as a work. Dryad also allows you to add ORCID iDs for co-authors.
Overleaf, the collaborative LaTeX editor allows you to login with your ORCID iD and connect your ORCID to your current account. Once your account is linked, your ORCID iD will be included when you submit work to participating publishers. 
Protocols.io is a repository for recording and sharing up-to-date research methods and protocols. Connecting your ORCID iD with your account allows protocols.io to post information about your published protocols onto the "Works" section of your ORCID record. 

Open Science Tools

Open Science is an umbrella term that covers a variety of efforts to make the research process and its products (including journal articles, datasets, and software) more transparent and accessible. To encourage open science at Stanford Medicine, Lane Library recommends the following tools:

This list is not exhaustive and does not include tools for analyzing data or making journal articles and other published work openly accessible. The Stanford Digital Repository, operated by Stanford University Libraries, is also an option for Stanford users looking to share data and other materials. For more information on how Lane Library supports open science, contact your liaison librarian. To engage with the open science community at Stanford Medicine, consider attending a meeting of the Open Science Reading Group.