In the coming weeks our readers may notice a change on our published Letters and Articles — starting from the end of April, Nature Climate Change now requires the corresponding author on these submissions to provide an Open Researcher and Contributor Identifier (ORCID) prior to acceptance. This unique digital identifier for each researcher allows attribution and clarity of authorship of any particular research output that it is added to. Contributing authors are also welcome to add ORCIDs but it is not a requirement of the mandate. It aims to simplify tracking and reporting of research output and on published versions of our accepted original research papers, it will appear next to the author name — on both print and online versions. Individuals follow a straightforward and free sign-up process to obtain an ORCID, which they then link to their profile on our online manuscript submission system. If the individual grants permission to CrossRef, together we will update your ORCID record at the time of publication, ensuring your publication is connected to your names and institution.

Nature Climate Change, along with thirteen other Nature Research titles, is participating in this mandate, which will be evaluated over a six-month period (http://go.nature.com/2qbItHx). The requirement applies only for original research and is in line with implementation by a number of publishers across other publications (http://go.nature.com/2qnbBvX).

This mandate for corresponding authors to provide an ORCID follows the recent announcement of the official signing up by Nature Research to the principles of the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) (http://go.nature.com/2qIA81E). DORA aims to ensure that the scientific output of individuals and institutions is accurately measured and evaluated. Clarity in authorship helps to fulfil these ambitions.

It is not the only measure that is being undertaken to improve transparency in publication; in late 2016 we introduced the requirement for a data availability statement on all published primary research (http://go.nature.com/2pOoA7R), following on from an earlier change in the way Methods were included in original research papers, allowing additional references and indexing of these. Plus in a move away from focusing on journal impact factors and in line with the DORA principles, additional journal metrics, both peer-review and citation-based, are now being provided for all of the Nature-branded journals, with more information available at http://go.nature.com/2arq7OM.

We hope these changes to improve transparency and the new metrics information are useful and as with any new policy or trial we undertake, we are interested in hearing your thoughts and welcome your feedback.