Users of PubMed and other databases provided by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) can save searches, citations, interface preferences, and other information in a MyNCBI account. When MyNCBI debuted there was only one option, to create a new username and password from scratch. NCBI calls this a “native account.” Now MyNCBI is connected to other NIH systems such as the eRA Commons and the SciENcv research biosketch service, and the options for logging into MyNCBI have expanded to include 3rd party logins tied to the user’s Google, eRA Commons, ORCID, University of Pittsburgh, or other accounts. Is there an advantage to creating a new account in MyNCBI? Why not use the University of Pittsburgh 3rd party login and eliminate one more password you must remember?
To ensure access to your MyNCBI account you should not rely solely on a 3rd party login option. Instead, register for a MyNCBI account, and then link it to any 3rd party login options that you want to use. That way, if you lose access to the 3rd party organization, you still have access to all the saved work in your MyNCBI account.
To register for a new native MyNCBI account, go to the NCBI login page and fill out the registration form. Once the account is created, link it to your 3rd party accounts. To do this, log in to your account and click on your username at the top right of the page. Here you can add linked accounts, and make other modifications such as changing the e-mail associated with your account.
If you have relied on a 3rd party login and lost access to it, e-mail the NCBI help desk. Include the account name and the e-mail address associated with the account in your message. For more information on using MyNCBI, see the NCBI Help Manual.
~ Barbara Folb