Enter once, reuse often

Text originally published in https://orcid.org/blog/2018/05/24/enter-once-reuse-often/nIf someone asks you, as a researcher, what you hate most about your work, the chances are you will say form-filling. Keying in the same information, time after time —often for the same organization!— is frustrating, increases the risk of errors, and reduces the amount of time you can spend actually doing research. Nature’s 2016 salary survey (summarized here) found that researchers typically spend 21% of their time on writing grant applications and other administrative tasks.  At the recent Brazil ORCID consortium launch, CAPES noted that they estimate their researchers spend 30% of their time performing administrative tasks. FCT in Portugal, have even developed a tool to calculate how much time (and money!) is spent by researchers manually adding the same information to multiple systems./nAt ORCID, we are working with our member organizations to build systems that allow you to spend more time doing research, and less time managing it. There are now over 550 systems and platforms that have made it possible for researchers to share their ORCID iD securely, with more in the pipeline. Many of these systems connect your ORCID iD with your contribution (paper, grant, dataset, thesis, affiliation, etc.) and also give you the option to approve addition of your published contribution to your ORCID record, making it easier for you to share information with the other organizations you interact with./n /nAffiliationsMost research systems routinely request information about researchers’ education and employment affiliations. Your own institution is clearly the most reliable source of that information. Increasingly, ORCID member organizations are enabling trusted connections -assertions- between your ORCID iD and information about your affiliation with a research organization. Of course, there are many types of affiliation in addition to employment and education. Our affiliation types enable research institutions, associations, and others to also make connections between your iD and information about your honorary positions, service or membership, and qualifications. With your permission, these assertions can be added to your ORCID record for you to share as you interact with a variety of application and submission systems./n /nSigning into systemsOver the course of your career, you’ll probably submit papers to many different journals.  To help streamline the manuscript submission process, publishers are using ORCID services to support single sign on (see, for example, this video), saving you the hassle of remembering multiple usernames and passwords. You can also use your institutional ID to sign in to ORCID, as well as your Facebook or Google account./n /nPublished works and fundingUsing your iD when submitting a paper or review means you can more easily update a variety of systems with information about your published work. Many publishers collecting iDs are passing them on to Crossref and DataCite (for publications) and Publons (for reviews); they, in turn, add information about the work to your ORCID record. You simply have to grant permission! Other publishers, including the American Geophysical Union, eLife, F1000, and the Society for Neuroscience, are connecting review information directly to ORCID records./nWe are also working with funders around the world to enable the collection of iDs and other data from your ORCID record during the grant application process. As well as making the application process easier for you, the goal is that the funder will update your ORCID record with your funded award information, so you can easily share it when interacting with other systems./n /nResearch resources/nThere are many other research activities that -—always with your permission— can be connected with your ORCID iD and updated into your record, to enable sharing with other systems you interact with. One example are the research resources you use to do your work, such as user facilities, laboratories, special collections, and so on. With a group of research resources, publishers, and funders, we together have defined an end-to-end workflow for collecting ORCID iDs in resource access proposal workflows, updating your ORCID record when the proposal is approved, and establishing a workflow to share this information when you submit a paper or dataset./nOur ultimate goal is to enable transparent and trusted connections between your ORCID iD and your contributions and affiliations, and to make it easier to share this information as you interact with various information systems. Instead of keying in the same information again and again, all you need to do is use your iD when you interact with a research system, grant permissions to update your record, and share the information with the next system you interact with. Enter information once and reuse it often!/n

A Frivolous Lawsuit May Destroy the Career of a Professional: Is There No Remedy?

The decade of the 1970\u27s saw an increase of crisis proportions in the number of medical malpractice claims, and this crisis has lingered into the 1980\u27s. Furthermore, lawyers, architects, engineers, accountants, and other professionals are becoming increasingly aware that malpractice litigation has not been limited to attacks on health care practitioners

Persistent identifiers – building trust and supporting openness in digital scholarship

The inevitable ambiguities arising from using names can hamper our ability to reliably and transparently discover, connect, and access resources. If we’re to fully realise the potential of open, digital scholarship then automatic, resolvable connections between researchers, institutions, research outputs and funders are essential. ORCID’s Josh Brown and Alice Meadows outline how persistent identifiers are able to make these connections, allowing for a seamless, unambiguous, and – crucially – trustworthy exchange of information between systems. Adoption of persistent identifiers is increasing all the time and should boost the openness of research and facilitate collaborations

Enter once, reuse often

Text originally published in https://orcid.org/blog/2018/05/24/enter-once-reuse-oftenIf someone asks you, as a researcher, what you hate most about your work, the chances are you will say form-filling. Keying in the same information, time after time —often for the same organization!— is frustrating, increases the risk of errors, and reduces the amount of time you can spend actually doing research. Nature’s 2016 salary survey (summarized here) found that researchers typically spend 21% of their time on writing grant applications and other administrative tasks.  At the recent Brazil ORCID consortium launch, CAPES noted that they estimate their researchers spend 30% of their time performing administrative tasks. FCT in Portugal, have even developed a tool to calculate how much time (and money!) is spent by researchers manually adding the same information to multiple systems.At ORCID, we are working with our member organizations to build systems that allow you to spend more time doing research, and less time managing it. There are now over 550 systems and platforms that have made it possible for researchers to share their ORCID iD securely, with more in the pipeline. Many of these systems connect your ORCID iD with your contribution (paper, grant, dataset, thesis, affiliation, etc.) and also give you the option to approve addition of your published contribution to your ORCID record, making it easier for you to share information with the other organizations you interact with. AffiliationsMost research systems routinely request information about researchers’ education and employment affiliations. Your own institution is clearly the most reliable source of that information. Increasingly, ORCID member organizations are enabling trusted connections -assertions- between your ORCID iD and information about your affiliation with a research organization. Of course, there are many types of affiliation in addition to employment and education. Our affiliation types enable research institutions, associations, and others to also make connections between your iD and information about your honorary positions, service or membership, and qualifications. With your permission, these assertions can be added to your ORCID record for you to share as you interact with a variety of application and submission systems. Signing into systemsOver the course of your career, you’ll probably submit papers to many different journals.  To help streamline the manuscript submission process, publishers are using ORCID services to support single sign on (see, for example, this video), saving you the hassle of remembering multiple usernames and passwords. You can also use your institutional ID to sign in to ORCID, as well as your Facebook or Google account. Published works and fundingUsing your iD when submitting a paper or review means you can more easily update a variety of systems with information about your published work. Many publishers collecting iDs are passing them on to Crossref and DataCite (for publications) and Publons (for reviews); they, in turn, add information about the work to your ORCID record. You simply have to grant permission! Other publishers, including the American Geophysical Union, eLife, F1000, and the Society for Neuroscience, are connecting review information directly to ORCID records.We are also working with funders around the world to enable the collection of iDs and other data from your ORCID record during the grant application process. As well as making the application process easier for you, the goal is that the funder will update your ORCID record with your funded award information, so you can easily share it when interacting with other systems. Research resourcesThere are many other research activities that -—always with your permission— can be connected with your ORCID iD and updated into your record, to enable sharing with other systems you interact with. One example are the research resources you use to do your work, such as user facilities, laboratories, special collections, and so on. With a group of research resources, publishers, and funders, we together have defined an end-to-end workflow for collecting ORCID iDs in resource access proposal workflows, updating your ORCID record when the proposal is approved, and establishing a workflow to share this information when you submit a paper or dataset.Our ultimate goal is to enable transparent and trusted connections between your ORCID iD and your contributions and affiliations, and to make it easier to share this information as you interact with various information systems. Instead of keying in the same information again and again, all you need to do is use your iD when you interact with a research system, grant permissions to update your record, and share the information with the next system you interact with. Enter information once and reuse it often! </p

Six Ways to Make Your ORCID iD Work for You!

¡Felicidades, usted ha registrado su ORCID iD! [1]. El siguiente paso es usar su iD para construir su registro ORCID. Sabemos que lo último que desea es tener que pasar más tiempo actualizando otro sistema, entonces ¿por qué no permitir que las organizaciones y plataformas con las que ya interactúa hagan la mayor parte del trabajo por usted? No sólo le ahorrará tiempo, sino que también reducirá el riesgo de errores y le ayudará a garantizar conexiones confiables entre usted y sus contribuciones de investigación y afiliaciones. Después de todo, ¿quién mejor que su institución para confirmar dónde trabaja? ¿O una revista para validar los artículos que usted ha escrito? Recomendamos seguir estos seis sencillos pasos para crear un registro autorizado de ORCID, ¡tan sólo levantando un dedo (digital)!: 1. Afiliación verificada por su institución. Use su ORCID iD cada vez que se le solicite hacerlo en un sistema en el que confía: el sistema de administración de información de su institución, un sistema de envío de manuscritos o solicitud de financiamiento, entre otros. Las mejores integraciones de ORCID le solicitarán que inicie sesión en su cuenta de ORCID para verificar su iD. Al mismo tiempo, muchos de ellos le pedirán autorización para acceder a su registro. ¡Diga que sí! Dichos sistemas luego podrán agregar información a su registro ORCID y mantenerla actualizada. Esto significa que, por ejemplo, su institución puede agregar información de afiliación, incluir la fecha de inicio de la misma, y editarla si cambia de departamentos o abandona la organización. Su institución aparecerá como la fuente de esa información. Puede optar por revocar el acceso a través de la configuración de su cuenta ORCID en cualquier momento si lo necesita [2]. 2. Actualizaciones automáticas en su registro a medida que publica. Autorice a Crossref [3] y DataCite [4], los principales proveedores de DOI para publicaciones de investigación, a actualizar automáticamente su registro cada vez que publique un artículo o conjunto de datos en una revista. Crossref solicitará su permiso una vez que su trabajo haya sido aceptado: busque un correo electrónico de ellos y, cuando se le solicite, inicie sesión en su cuenta ORCID y autorícelos a actualizar su registro. Puede activar la función de actualización automática de DataCite usted mismo, independientemente del proceso de publicación. Simplemente configure un perfil de DataCite [5] y habilite la funcionalidad de actualización automática de ORCID. Después de eso, su registro ORCID se actualizará automáticamente cada vez que se publique uno de sus trabajos. Crossref o DataCite aparecerán como la fuente de la información. A menudo, su registro se actualizará antes de que el artículo siquiera se publique. 3. Conéctese a sus trabajos existentes. Use las herramientas de ORCID para «Buscar y Enlazar». Hasta el momento, once de nuestras organizaciones miembro han creado estas herramientas, que le permiten conectar sus trabajos de manera rápida y fácil a su registro. Puede importar información de algunas de las bases de datos más grandes, como Crossref Metadata Search, ResearcherID y ScopusID; bases de datos de disciplinas específicas como Europe PubMed Central y MLA International Bibliography; y bases de datos específicas a países e idiomas como Airiti, KoreaMed y Redalyc. Seleccione la opción «Buscar y Enlazar» debajo de «Agregar obras» en la sección «Obras» de su registro ORCID, elija la base de datos con la que desea conectarse y conceda permiso para que acceda y actualice su registro ORCID. Se le presentará una lista de publicaciones que coinciden con la información en su registro, y usted simplemente selecciona las que son suyas. Aparecerán inmediatamente en su registro ORCID, con la base de datos relevante indicada como la fuente. 4. Conéctese a sus subvenciones existentes. Use la herramienta «Buscar y Enlazar» de UberResearch. Funciona de manera muy similar a las herramientas de búsqueda y enlace para obras, lo que le permite conectar de manera rápida y fácil sus becas y premios a su registro ORCID. Haga clic en la opción «Buscar y Enlazar» en la sección «Financiamiento» de su registro, seleccione UberWizard, autorice la conexión y seleccione sus subvenciones de la misma manera que lo hace con sus obras. La fuente de la información será UberResearch. 5. Conecte sus perfiles existentes a su registro ORCID. ¿Ya tiene un perfil de ResearcherID o ScopusID? ¿Qué hay de Kudos, Loop, Mendeley o Publons? Estos y otros sistemas de investigadores le han permitido conectar información a su registro ORCID. Cada uno funciona de manera ligeramente diferente, pero en todos los casos se le ofrecerá la opción de vincular su iD a su perfil y se le pedirá que otorgue permiso para actualizar su registro ORCID. ¡No es necesario volver a introducir la misma información! Puede encontrar que los mismos trabajos se agregan a su registro ORCID varias veces; si es así, los agruparemos automáticamente por identificador de trabajo. Si no hay un identificador, puede optar por agruparlos manualmente si lo desea. 6. Conecte su ORCID iD con sus credenciales institucionales de inicio de sesión. Ahorre tiempo y disminuya el riesgo de perder inadvertidamente el acceso a su cuenta ORCID vinculando su iD con su inicio de sesión institucional. También puede conectarse a sus cuentas de Facebook o Google. Esto significa una contraseña menos para recordar y también garantiza que tiene más de una forma de acceder a su cuenta ORCID. Obtenga más información aquí [6]. Cada semana se conectan más sistemas a ORCID. Busque el icono verde del ORCID iD en los sistemas de investigación que utiliza.Original aricle by Alice Meadows/nhttps://orcid.org/blog/2017/08/10/six-ways-make-your-orcid-id-work-you/n /nCongratulations, you’ve registered for an ORCID iD! The next step is using your iD to build your ORCID record. We know the last thing you want is to have to spend more time updating yet another system, so why not let the organizations and platforms you already interact with do most of the work for you? Not only will it save you time, it also reduces the risk of errors, and helps you ensure trustworthy connections between you and your research contributions and affiliations. After all, who better than your institution to assert where you work? Or your journal to assert articles that you have authored? We recommend following these six easy steps to building an authoritative ORCID record - while hardly lifting a (digital) finger! Affiliation verified by your institution. Use your ORCID iD whenever you’re prompted to do so in a system that you trust - your institution’s research information management system, a manuscript submission or grant application system, for example. The best ORCID integrations will ask you to sign in to your ORCID account to verify your iD. At the same time, many of them will prompt you to authorize them to access your record. Say yes! They will then be able to add information to your ORCID record and keep it updated on your behalf. This means that, for example, your institution can add your affiliation information - including start date - and edit it if you move departments or leave the organization. Your institution will appear as the source of that information. You can choose to revoke their access via your ORCID Account Settings at any time if you need to. Automatic updates to your record as you publish. Authorize Crossref and/or DataCite - the main DOI providers for research publications - to automatically update your record whenever you publish a journal article or dataset. Crossref will ask your permission to after your paper has been accepted - look out for an email from them and, when prompted, sign in to your ORCID account and authorize them to update your record. You can activate DataCite’s auto-update feature yourself, independently of the publication process. Simply set up a DataCite profile and enable the ORCID Auto-Update functionality. After that, your ORCID record will automatically update every time one of your works is published. Crossref or DataCite will appear as the source of the information. Often your record will be updated before the article even publishes! Connect to your existing works. Use the ORCID Search &amp; Link tools. Eleven of our member organizations so far have created these tools, which enable you to quickly and easily connect your works to your record. You can import information from some of the biggest databases, like Crossref Metadata Search, ResearcherID, and ScopusID; from discipline specific databases like Europe PubMed Central and the MLA International Bibliography; and country and/or language-specific databases such as Airiti, KoreaMed, and Redalyc. Select the Search &amp; Link option under Add Works in the Works section of your ORCID record, choose the database you want to connect with, and grant permission for it to access and update your ORCID record. You’ll be presented with a list of publications that match the information in your record, and you simply claim the ones that are yours. They will immediately appear in your ORCID record, with the relevant database showing as the source. Connect to your existing grants. Use the UberResearch Search &amp; Link tool. This works in much the same way as the Search &amp; Link tools for works, enabling you to quickly and easily connect your grants and awards to your record. Click on the Search &amp; Link option in the Funding section of your record, select UberWizard for ORCID, authorize access to your record and claim your grants in the same way as you do your works. The source will be shown as UberResearch. Connect your existing profiles to your ORCID record. Do you already have a ResearcherID or ScopusID profile? What about Kudos, Loop, Mendeley, or Publons? These and other researcher systems have enabled you to connect information from them to your ORCID record. Each works slightly differently, but in all cases you’ll be offered the option to link your iD to your profile and asked to grant permission to update your ORCID record. No need to rekey the same data! You may find that the same works get added to your ORCID record multiple times; if so, we will automatically group them by identifier. If there is no identifier you can opt to group them manually if you wish. Connect your ORCID iD with your institutional sign in credentials. Save yourself time and decrease the risk of inadvertently losing access to your ORCID account by linking your iD to your institutional sign in. You may also connect to your Facebook and/or Google accounts. This means one less password to remember and also ensures you have more than one way to access your ORCID account. Learn more here. More systems are connecting to ORCID every week. Look for the green ORCID iD icon in the research systems that you use. Blog Alice Meadows's blo

¡Seis maneras de sacarle provecho a su ORCID iD!

¡Felicidades, usted ha registrado su ORCID iD! [1]. El siguiente paso es usar su iD para construir su registro ORCID. Sabemos que lo último que desea es tener que pasar más tiempo actualizando otro sistema, entonces ¿por qué no permitir que las organizaciones y plataformas con las que ya interactúa hagan la mayor parte del trabajo por usted? No sólo le ahorrará tiempo, sino que también reducirá el riesgo de errores y le ayudará a garantizar conexiones confiables entre usted y sus contribuciones de investigación y afiliaciones. Después de todo, ¿quién mejor que su institución para confirmar dónde trabaja? ¿O una revista para validar los artículos que usted ha escrito? Recomendamos seguir estos seis sencillos pasos para crear un registro autorizado de ORCID, ¡tan sólo levantando un dedo (digital)!: 1. Afiliación verificada por su institución. Use su ORCID iD cada vez que se le solicite hacerlo en un sistema en el que confía: el sistema de administración de información de su institución, un sistema de envío de manuscritos o solicitud de financiamiento, entre otros. Las mejores integraciones de ORCID le solicitarán que inicie sesión en su cuenta de ORCID para verificar su iD. Al mismo tiempo, muchos de ellos le pedirán autorización para acceder a su registro. ¡Diga que sí! Dichos sistemas luego podrán agregar información a su registro ORCID y mantenerla actualizada. Esto significa que, por ejemplo, su institución puede agregar información de afiliación, incluir la fecha de inicio de la misma, y editarla si cambia de departamentos o abandona la organización. Su institución aparecerá como la fuente de esa información. Puede optar por revocar el acceso a través de la configuración de su cuenta ORCID en cualquier momento si lo necesita [2]. 2. Actualizaciones automáticas en su registro a medida que publica. Autorice a Crossref [3] y DataCite [4], los principales proveedores de DOI para publicaciones de investigación, a actualizar automáticamente su registro cada vez que publique un artículo o conjunto de datos en una revista. Crossref solicitará su permiso una vez que su trabajo haya sido aceptado: busque un correo electrónico de ellos y, cuando se le solicite, inicie sesión en su cuenta ORCID y autorícelos a actualizar su registro. Puede activar la función de actualización automática de DataCite usted mismo, independientemente del proceso de publicación. Simplemente configure un perfil de DataCite [5] y habilite la funcionalidad de actualización automática de ORCID. Después de eso, su registro ORCID se actualizará automáticamente cada vez que se publique uno de sus trabajos. Crossref o DataCite aparecerán como la fuente de la información. A menudo, su registro se actualizará antes de que el artículo siquiera se publique. 3. Conéctese a sus trabajos existentes. Use las herramientas de ORCID para «Buscar y Enlazar». Hasta el momento, once de nuestras organizaciones miembro han creado estas herramientas, que le permiten conectar sus trabajos de manera rápida y fácil a su registro. Puede importar información de algunas de las bases de datos más grandes, como Crossref Metadata Search, ResearcherID y ScopusID; bases de datos de disciplinas específicas como Europe PubMed Central y MLA International Bibliography; y bases de datos específicas a países e idiomas como Airiti, KoreaMed y Redalyc. Seleccione la opción «Buscar y Enlazar» debajo de «Agregar obras» en la sección «Obras» de su registro ORCID, elija la base de datos con la que desea conectarse y conceda permiso para que acceda y actualice su registro ORCID. Se le presentará una lista de publicaciones que coinciden con la información en su registro, y usted simplemente selecciona las que son suyas. Aparecerán inmediatamente en su registro ORCID, con la base de datos relevante indicada como la fuente. 4. Conéctese a sus subvenciones existentes. Use la herramienta «Buscar y Enlazar» de UberResearch. Funciona de manera muy similar a las herramientas de búsqueda y enlace para obras, lo que le permite conectar de manera rápida y fácil sus becas y premios a su registro ORCID. Haga clic en la opción «Buscar y Enlazar» en la sección «Financiamiento» de su registro, seleccione UberWizard, autorice la conexión y seleccione sus subvenciones de la misma manera que lo hace con sus obras. La fuente de la información será UberResearch. 5. Conecte sus perfiles existentes a su registro ORCID. ¿Ya tiene un perfil de ResearcherID o ScopusID? ¿Qué hay de Kudos, Loop, Mendeley o Publons? Estos y otros sistemas de investigadores le han permitido conectar información a su registro ORCID. Cada uno funciona de manera ligeramente diferente, pero en todos los casos se le ofrecerá la opción de vincular su iD a su perfil y se le pedirá que otorgue permiso para actualizar su registro ORCID. ¡No es necesario volver a introducir la misma información! Puede encontrar que los mismos trabajos se agregan a su registro ORCID varias veces; si es así, los agruparemos automáticamente por identificador de trabajo. Si no hay un identificador, puede optar por agruparlos manualmente si lo desea. 6. Conecte su ORCID iD con sus credenciales institucionales de inicio de sesión. Ahorre tiempo y disminuya el riesgo de perder inadvertidamente el acceso a su cuenta ORCID vinculando su iD con su inicio de sesión institucional. También puede conectarse a sus cuentas de Facebook o Google. Esto significa una contraseña menos para recordar y también garantiza que tiene más de una forma de acceder a su cuenta ORCID. Obtenga más información aquí [6]. Cada semana se conectan más sistemas a ORCID. Busque el icono verde del ORCID iD en los sistemas de investigación que utiliza

Using ORCID, DOI, and Other Open Identifiers in Research Evaluation

An evaluator's task is to connect the dots between program goals and its outcomes. This can be accomplished through surveys, research, and interviews, and is frequently performed post hoc. Research evaluation is hampered by a lack of data that clearly connect a research program with its outcomes and, in particular, by ambiguity about who has participated in the program and what contributions they have made. Manually making these connections is very labor-intensive, and algorithmic matching introduces errors and assumptions that can distort results. In this paper, we discuss the use of identifiers in research evaluation—for individuals, their contributions, and the organizations that sponsor them and fund their work. Global identifier systems are uniquely positioned to capture global mobility and collaboration. By leveraging connections between local infrastructures and global information resources, evaluators can map data sources that were previously either unavailable or prohibitively labor-intensive. We describe how identifiers, such as ORCID iDs and DOIs, are being embedded in research workflows across science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics; how this is affecting data availability for evaluation purposes: and provide examples of evaluations that are leveraging identifiers. We also discuss the importance of provenance and preservation in establishing confidence in the reliability and trustworthiness of data and relationships, and in the long-term availability of metadata describing objects and their inter-relationships. We conclude with a discussion on opportunities and risks for the use of identifiers in evaluation processes

"If we use the strength of diversity among researchers we can only improve the quality and impact of our research": Issues of equality, diversity, inclusion, and transparency in the process of applying for research funding

This paper sets out the recommendations that have emerged from a six-month-long exploration and discussion of the processes that take place before research is submitted for funding: the ‘pre-award’ environment. Our work concentrated on how this environment is experienced by researchers at all career stages and from a variety of backgrounds, demographics, and disciplines, as well as by research managers and research support professionals. In the later stages of our exploration, representatives from research funders were also involved in the discussions. The primary component of this project was an analysis of pre-award activities and processes at UK universities, using information collated from workshops with researchers and research management and support staff. The findings of this analysis were presented as a workflow diagram, which was then used to surface issues relating to equality, diversity, inclusion, and transparency in context. The workflow diagram and the issues highlighted by it were used to structure discussions at a symposium for a range of research stakeholders, held in Bristol, UK, in January 2023. The recommendations set out in this paper are drawn from discussions that took place at that event. This paper is not an exhaustive landscape analysis, nor a review of existing research and practice in the area of pre-award processes or of recent thinking on the topics of equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI). Instead, it aims to summarise and encapsulate the suggestions put forward by the stakeholders during the symposium. These recommendations, from experienced professionals working in the field, are based on their encounters with the issues raised in the project. They do not solely relate to those working on pre-award processes, but may also apply to funders, policymakers, university leaders, and professional associations, since many of the challenges flagged in our research are systemic and cultural, and reach far beyond the research office

Childbearing postponement and child well-being: a complex and varied relationship?

Over the past several decades, U.S. fertility has followed a trend toward the postponement of motherhood. The socioeconomic causes and consequences of this trend have been the focus of attention in the demographic literature. Given the socioeconomic advantages of those who postpone having children, some authors have argued that the disadvantage experienced by certain groups would be reduced if they postponed their births. The weathering hypothesis literature, by integrating a biosocial perspective, complicates this argument and posits that the costs and benefits of postponement may vary systematically across population subgroups. In particular, the literature on the weathering hypothesis argues that as a consequence of their unique experiences of racism and disadvantage, African American women may experience a more rapid deterioration of their health, which could offset or eventually reverse any socioeconomic benefit of postponement. But because very few African American women postpone motherhood, efforts to find compelling evidence to support the arguments of this perspective rely on a strategy of comparison that is problematic because a potentially selected group of older black mothers are used to represent the costs of postponement. This might explain why the weathering hypothesis has played a rather limited role in the way demographers conceptualize postponement and its consequences for well-being. In order to explore the potential utility of this perspective, we turn our attention to the UK context. Because first-birth fertility schedules are similar for black and white women, we can observe (rather than assume) whether the meaning and consequences of postponement vary across these population subgroups. The results, obtained using linked UK census and birth record data, reveal evidence consistent with the weathering hypothesis in the United Kingdom and lend support to the arguments that the demographic literature would benefit from integrating insights from this biosocial perspective