How to import people from a list of ORCID iDs#

This script creates a profile for each ORCID iD in a file, so that records can be credited to people who have not signed up. You run it when you attribute imported data to researchers you know only by iD.

To import from a spreadsheet with names and affiliations instead, use the Import button on the people list. See People.

Before you start#

The portal’s server must reach pub.orcid.org over HTTPS.
A background worker should be running. Each new profile queues a sync with ORCID, and the sync needs a worker. Without one the profile keeps the data this script stores.
Each iD in the file is the iD alone, such as 0000-0002-1825-0097, not its web address.

Steps#

Save the iDs in a CSV file with one column named orcid_id.
```
orcid_id
0000-0002-1825-0097
0000-0003-1234-5678
```
Open a Django shell in the portal’s environment.
```
python manage.py shell
```

Run the import. It skips anyone who has already claimed their account, makes a new profile unclaimed, and pauses between rows to stay under ORCID’s limits.

import csv
import time

import requests

from fairdm.contrib.contributors.models import ContributorIdentifier
from fairdm.contrib.contributors.utils.transforms import ORCIDTransform

with open("orcids.csv", newline="") as handle:
    for row in csv.DictReader(handle):
        orcid_id = row["orcid_id"].strip()

        held = ContributorIdentifier.objects.filter(
            type="ORCID", value=orcid_id
        ).first()
        if held and getattr(held.related.get_real_instance(), "is_claimed", False):
            print(f"Skipped {orcid_id}: already claimed")
            continue

        try:
            person, created = ORCIDTransform.update_or_create(orcid_id)
        except requests.RequestException as error:
            print(f"Failed {orcid_id}: {error}")
            continue

        if created:
            person.email = None
            person.is_claimed = False
            person.is_active = True
            person.set_unusable_password()
            person.save(update_fields=["email", "is_claimed", "is_active", "password"])

        print(f"{'Created' if created else 'Updated'} {person}")
        time.sleep(1.5)

The result#

Each new person exists as an active, unclaimed profile with the name, the biography and the links from the ORCID record, an ORCID identifier, no email address and an unusable password. That is a ghost. Someone who later signs in with that iD claims the profile. See How a profile is claimed.

A person already in the portal under that iD is left alone when their record was synced within the last day, and is refreshed from ORCID otherwise. A refresh rewrites the name, the first and last names and the biography, as described in How to sync a profile from ORCID or ROR without Celery.

The people appear in the people list in the administration interface, where the Claimed Status filter shows them as unclaimed. To credit them on a record, see How to credit a person on a record.