What is a group author (collaborative author) and does it need an ORCID?

• A group author (also called collaborative author) is a group name (such as "CONSORT Group" or "AHA Heart Failure Taskforce" or "XY Workshop Members"), which will be listed as an author in the author list
• Usually, "named individual authors who accept responsibility for the article" should be listed as coauthors alongside the the group author in the authorship byline
• Individual members of the group can be listed in the manuscript in the Acknowledgements section. See What are "collaborators" and where should they be listed?
• If the paper is Pubmed-listed, the group members will be listed as "Collaborators", but do not appear in the author list (see screenshot below)
• The group name does not need an ORCID (ORCIDs are for individual researchers only). Also, the members listed in the paper do not have to (but may) list their ORCIDs (What is an ORCID?)

The Council of Science Editors recommends that

• "authors to identify both the group name and the named individual authors who accept responsibility for the article" (i.e. in JMIR journals, they should be added in the metadata form as coauthors)
• journals "clearly identify in the published article named individual authors and the complete name of the group" (in JMIR journals, these will be listed as authors).
• Journals "should distinguish named individual authors from other group members. If they are identified, journals should list other nonauthor group members in the acknowledgments section." (as per instructions above. JMIR will submit them to PubMed and they may appear as "collaborators"). 

Example: Pubmed listing of an article with a group author ("CONSORT-Ehealth Group") whose members were listed in the article and which are therefore listed in PubMed as "Collaborators".

External Link:

NLM Technical Bulletin on "Study Collaborators"

See also:

• What is an ORCID?
• What is the "Authors' Contributions" section? How should I write mine? 
• How do I add a Group Author?