Q: Can you help me understand some of the inputs for CRediT?
I am going to submit a manuscript for the first time, and have a question about CRediT. If I am a first author and my supervisor (SV) is a corresponding author, am I 'lead' and is my SV 'equal'? Also, would it be a problem when the role of coauthor is duplicated? If there are any [other] points to note, please do let me know.
It’s great to know you are submitting a research paper for the first time. You must no doubt be both excited and nervous. Incidentally, it seems you are submitting via ScholarOne, as the CrediT classification of researcher contributions is usually followed by that system.
Anyway, to answer your first query, where multiple individuals serve in the same role, the degree of contribution needs to be specified using ‘lead’, ‘equal’, or ‘supporting.’ So, if your supervisor (SV) and you both contributed to a particular role, for example, ‘conceptualization,’ you can use ‘equal’ for both when filling the degree of contribution. In case your ‘SV’ contributed more, you can use ‘lead’ for them and ‘supporting’ for you.
To answer your second query, no, there is no problem if two or more authors have the exact same contribution or CRediT role toward the study.
Finally, for other points to keep in mind during submission, you may wish to go through the following resources:
- The importance of manuscript submission readiness checks (with a downloadable checklist)
- How journals are using CRediT to capture author contributions in Editorial Manager
And for future submissions, you may also wish to know about our submission service here.
Hope that helps. All the best for your submission!
This content belongs to the Journal submission & peer review Stage