Contact supportReport a bug or request a featureSee ROR docs on GitHub
Guides

Transition from Open Funder Registry to ROR

In September 2023, Crossref and ROR announced a long-term plan to deprecate the Open Funder Registry (formerly known as FundRef) and merge it into ROR, the Research Organization Registry. We're thrilled that ROR is set to become the standard identifier for funders, and we're determined to help make this transition as easy as possible for all concerned. Here are some answers to frequently asked questions about this transition, including guidance on how to switch from using Funder IDs to using ROR IDs.

Why is this transition happening?

Merging the two registries will make workflows more efficient and less confusing for all concerned and will enable the development of robust new services that use organization identifiers. The Open Funder Registry currently includes about 44,000 IDs and records for funders, and a large majority of the most-used of these Funder IDs already exist in ROR, with others being continually added through ongoing curation work. Funders, publishers, and others should not need to decide whether to use Funder IDs or ROR IDs and should not need to use both: a single registry, ROR, can fulfill the purpose of identifying research organizations -- including funders.

When is this transition happening?

This transition is happening now! Users of the Open Funder Registry can begin the work of switching to ROR at any time. ROR's data structure has always included an external identifier field to enable mapping of ROR IDs to Funder IDs, and ROR has been working since 2022 to add and update ROR records from Open Funder Registry data. The Open Funder Registry will continue to be updated and its existing technical infrastructure will remain available for the foreseeable future, but future systems and processes at Crossref will be designed to use ROR IDs to identify funders.

Can I use ROR IDs instead of Funder IDs in Crossref metadata?

Yes, you can! If you are a Crossref member, you can now use ROR IDs to identify funders in any place in Crossref metadata where you currently use Funder IDs. You can consult Crossref documentation on funding metadata to learn more.

Will every Funder ID have a corresponding ROR ID?

Our aim is to provide comprehensive coverage of Funder IDs that are widely used, are not duplicates or errors, and are in scope for ROR. Based on our analysis of funding data in Crossref, DataCite, and ORCID metadata, about one-third of the Funder Registry accounts for the majority of actual usage, so we’re creating and updating ROR IDs for funders on this basis. Currently, there are ROR IDs for over 94% of cases where a Funder ID is used in DataCite and Crossref DOI records. We will continue to improve this coverage to better support the funder identification use case. See How ROR and the Funder Registry Overlap to learn more.

Will Funder IDs continue to resolve?

Absolutely! Funder IDs are DOIs, and as such are persistent. The Funder ID for the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, for instance, is <https://doi.org/10.13039/100000879> (or 100000879 in some usages), and Crossref will ensure that all such Funder IDs continue to resolve to a page with information about that funder.

Will the Crossref Funder API remain available?

Yes, Crossref will maintain the current funder API endpoints at https://api.crossref.org/funders at least until ROR IDs become the predominant funding identifier for newly registered content, and perhaps beyond.

Will the Crossref Funding Data search remain available?

Yes, Crossref will maintain the current funding data search, which connects funders to published works, at least until ROR IDs become the predominant funding identifier for newly registered content, and perhaps beyond.

I use Funder IDs in my system. How can I switch to ROR?

We're here to help! Take a look at the guidance below and write [email protected] with any questions.

👍

Two quick resources for switching from Funder IDs to ROR IDs

Find both IDs for a single funder

To find both the Funder ID and the ROR ID for a single funder, go to https://ror.org/search and search for a funder name to determine whether that funder has a ROR record. If the ROR record exists and is mapped to a Funder ID, the ROR record will include both the ROR ID and the Crossref Funder ID.

You can also type the suffix of the Crossref Funder ID itself in the ROR web search to find the record. For the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the search term 100000879 returns the ROR record.

ROR record for the Alfred P Sloan Foundation

ROR web record for the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation


🚧

ROR IDs and Funder IDs are not always mapped on a one-to-one basis

A single ROR ID can often be mapped to multiple Funder IDs. When a ROR ID has multiple corresponding Funder IDs, the preferred Funder ID is stored in the field external_ids.preferred in v2 of the ROR metadata schema. Be sure to check the status of the mapped ROR record to ensure that it has a status of "active."

Get a CSV file of all Funder ID to ROR ID mappings

To get a CSV file of Funder ID to ROR ID mappings, retrieve the latest copy of the ROR Data dump from Zenodo at https://zenodo.org/doi/10.5281/zenodo.6347574 and download and unzip the .zip file. The provided CSV will show mappings between ROR IDs and, where available, one or more Funder IDs in the external_ids.all field. Remember that one ROR ID can have multiple corresponding Funder IDs. When this is the case, the preferred match is stored in the field external_ids.preferred.

Map a custom list of Funder IDs to ROR IDs

Because Funder IDs are included in ROR records in the external_ids field, you can map a custom list of Funder IDs to ROR IDs using the ROR API or ROR data dump. This method will also allow you to retrieve additional ROR metadata. For more information and examples, see our guide Map other organization IDs to ROR IDs.

Build ROR-powered forms

You can build ROR-powered funder lookups into your system so that researchers, editors, funder staff, and other users can easily select a funder by name that is connected to a ROR ID and its associated metadata. See Create ROR-powered forms for guidance.

How can I give feedback on or get support for this transition?

Where can I learn more?