This is a fantastic request! Using CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) is a best practice for transparent and accurate author contributions.

Here's a comprehensive guide to help you write author contribution statements using CRediT, including definitions, common scenarios, and examples.

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Understanding CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy)

CRediT defines 14 standard roles that represent the tasks typically performed by researchers. The goal is to acknowledge individual contributions precisely, promoting transparency and reducing authorship disputes.

General Principles:

• Be Specific: Attribute each role to the person(s) who performed it.


• Be Inclusive: Ensure all significant contributions are recognized.


• Be Accurate: Reflect what actually happened, not what should have happened.


• Seek Agreement: All authors should review and agree upon the final CRediT statement.


• Use Initials (or full names): Most journals use initials for brevity, but some prefer full names. Be consistent.

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CRediT Taxonomy Definitions

Here are the 14 CRediT roles with their official definitions and common interpretations:

• Conceptualization: Ideas; formulation or evolution of overarching research goals and aims.


• (Who: Often the PI, lead student, or main collaborators.)


• Data Curation: Management activities to annotate (produce metadata), scrub data and maintain research data (for initial use and later reuse).


• (Who: Researchers directly handling and organizing datasets.)


• Formal Analysis: Application of statistical, mathematical, computational, or other formal techniques to analyze or synthesize study data.


• (Who: Statisticians, bioinformaticians, lead researchers performing data analysis.)


• Funding Acquisition: Acquisition of the financial support for the project leading to this publication.


• (Who: PIs, grant writers, anyone who secured major funding.)


• Investigation: Performing the research and investigation process, specifically performing the experiments, or data/evidence collection.


• (Who: Lab researchers, field workers, data collectors.)


• Methodology: Development or design of methodology; creation of models.


• (Who: Researchers developing new experimental methods, statistical approaches, or models.)


• Project Administration: Management and coordination responsibility for the research activity planning and execution.


• (Who: PI, senior lab manager, lead researcher managing overall project logistics.)


• Resources: Provision of study materials, reagents, laboratory samples, instrumentation, computing resources, or other analysis tools.


• (Who: Collaborators providing unique materials, core facility managers, software developers providing specific tools.)


• Software: Programming, software development; designing computer programs; implementation of the computer code and supporting algorithms; testing of existing code components.


• (Who: Programmers, bioinformaticians, data scientists developing custom scripts or software.)


• Supervision: Oversight and leadership responsibility for the research activity planning and execution, including mentorship external to the core team.


• (Who: PI, senior faculty mentoring junior researchers.)


• Validation: Verification, whether as a part of the activity or separate, of the overall replication/reproducibility of results and experiments.


• (Who: Anyone who independently verified findings, replicated experiments, or validated methods.)


• Visualization: Preparation, creation and/or presentation of the published work, specifically visualization/data presentation.


• (Who: Lead researchers, graphic designers, anyone creating figures, graphs, tables.)


• Writing – Original Draft: Preparation, creation and/or presentation of the published work, specifically writing the initial draft (including substantive parts).


• (Who: Typically the lead author, lead student, or postdoc.)


• Writing – Review & Editing: Preparation, creation and/or presentation of the published work by those from the original research group, specifically critical review, commentary or revision – including pre- or post-publication stages.


• (Who: All authors, especially senior authors and collaborators, who contribute significant revisions and critical feedback.)

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Practical Examples & Scenarios

Let's look at how these roles typically apply to different contributors in a research paper. We'll use initials (e.g., A.B., C.D.) for consistency.

Scenario 1: The Lead Researcher (e.g., PhD Student, Postdoc)

This person is usually the driving force behind the daily work.

• Likely CRediT Roles:


• Conceptualization: Often shares this with their supervisor.


• Methodology: Designs the specific experiments/approaches.


• Investigation: Performs the bulk of the experiments.


• Data Curation: Organizes and manages the raw data.


• Formal Analysis: Conducts the primary data analysis.


• Visualization: Creates most of the figures and graphs.


• Writing – Original Draft: Writes the initial manuscript.


• Writing – Review & Editing: Contributes to revisions.


• (Less common but possible): Funding Acquisition (if they secured a personal fellowship/grant).


• Example for A.B. (Lead Researcher):

"A.B.: Conceptualization, Methodology, Investigation, Data Curation, Formal Analysis, Visualization, Writing – Original Draft, Writing – Review & Editing."

Scenario 2: The Principal Investigator (PI) / Senior Author

This person typically oversees the project, secures funding, and provides high-level guidance.

• Likely CRediT Roles:


• Conceptualization: Often initiates the overall project idea.


• Funding Acquisition: Secures the grants.


• Methodology: Provides guidance on experimental design.


• Project Administration: Manages the overall project.


• Supervision: Oversees the research team.


• Writing – Review & Editing: Critically reviews and revises the manuscript.


• (Less common but possible): Resources (if their lab provides unique equipment), Formal Analysis (if they are hands-on with data analysis), Validation (if they independently confirm results).


• Example for C.D. (PI):

"C.D.: Conceptualization, Funding Acquisition, Methodology, Project Administration, Supervision, Writing – Review & Editing."

Scenario 3: The Statistician / Bioinformatician

This person specializes in data analysis and methodology.

• Likely CRediT Roles:


• Methodology: Develops specific statistical or computational approaches.


• Software: Writes custom scripts or programs for analysis.


• Data Curation: May help structure data for analysis.


• Formal Analysis: Performs advanced statistical or computational analysis.


• Visualization: Creates complex data visualizations.


• Writing – Review & Editing: Contributes specifically to methods and results sections.


• (Less common but possible): Conceptualization (if their statistical approach is central to the project idea).


• Example for E.F. (Statistician):

"E.F.: Methodology, Software, Data Curation, Formal Analysis, Visualization, Writing – Review & Editing."

Scenario 4: The Collaborator Providing Unique Resources/Expertise

This person contributes a specific assay, reagent, or critical insight from another lab.

• Likely CRediT Roles:


• Resources: Provides unique materials, reagents, or access to specialized equipment.


• Investigation: May perform specific assays or data collection.


• Methodology: May contribute a unique method they developed.


• Writing – Review & Editing: Reviews relevant sections of the manuscript.


• (Less common but possible): Conceptualization (if their unique contribution was integral to the project's inception).


• Example for G.H. (Collaborator):

"G.H.: Resources, Investigation, Methodology, Writing – Review & Editing."

Scenario 5: The Technical Support / Lab Assistant

This person performs routine experiments or maintains resources.

• Likely CRediT Roles:


• Investigation: Performs experiments as directed.


• Data Curation: Helps organize experimental data.


• Resources: Helps maintain equipment or stock reagents.


• (Less common): Other roles unless they significantly contributed to design or analysis.


• Example for I.J. (Lab Assistant):

"I.J.: Investigation, Data Curation, Resources."

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Full Example for a Hypothetical Paper

Let's combine these into a full statement for a paper with four authors:

Paper Title: "Novel Insights into Protein X Function in Cellular Senescence"

Authors:

• A.B. (Lead PhD Student)


• C.D. (Principal Investigator)


• E.F. (Bioinformatics Specialist)


• G.H. (Collaborator, provided unique antibody)

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Author Contributions:

A.B.: Conceptualization, Methodology, Investigation, Data Curation, Formal Analysis, Visualization, Writing – Original Draft, Writing – Review & Editing.
C.D.: Conceptualization, Funding Acquisition, Project Administration, Supervision, Writing – Review & Editing.
E.F.: Methodology (bioinformatic analysis), Software, Formal Analysis, Visualization, Writing – Review & Editing (of methods and results sections).
G.H.: Resources (provided anti-Protein X antibody), Investigation (performed initial validation of antibody), Writing – Review & Editing.

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Tips for Best Practice

• Discuss Early and Often: Have an initial conversation about contributions at the project's start and revisit it at key milestones (e.g., prior to writing, before submission). This prevents last-minute disputes.


• Keep Records: Document who did what throughout the project. Lab notebooks, meeting minutes, and shared documents can be helpful.


• Be Flexible: Contributions can evolve. Be prepared to adjust the statement as the project progresses.


• Check Journal Guidelines: Always refer to the specific journal's instructions for authors, as they may have minor variations or preferred formatting for CRediT statements.


• Emphasize "Significant" Contributions: CRediT is for substantial intellectual or practical contributions, not minor proofreading or administrative tasks that are part of standard job duties (unless they rise to a level of "Project Administration" or "Writing – Review & Editing").

By following these guidelines and using the CRediT taxonomy, you can create clear, fair, and transparent author contribution statements for your publications.