Implementation, barriers, and improvement strategies for CRediT: A scoping review

Area of Science:

• Scholarly Publishing
• Research Integrity
• Bibliometrics

Background:

• The Contributor Roles Taxonomy (CRediT) is increasingly adopted in scholarly publishing.
• CRediT aims to provide standardized descriptions of author contributions.
• Traditional authorship models may not fully capture the diverse roles in modern research.

Purpose of the Study:

• Investigate reasons for adopting CRediT.
• Identify barriers and concerns regarding CRediT implementation.
• Propose improvements for CRediT's effectiveness in attributing research contributions.

Main Methods:

• A scoping review methodology was employed.
• PRISMA guidelines were followed for a comprehensive literature search.
• Multiple databases (PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, etc.) were searched.

Main Results:

• CRediT adoption promotes transparency and recognizes contributions beyond authorship.
• Barriers include limited applicability across research types, ethical concerns, and contributor conflicts.
• Slow adoption is linked to low awareness, inconsistent implementation, and cultural resistance.

Conclusions:

• CRediT has potential for transparent and equitable recognition of diverse research contributions.
• Challenges such as ambiguous role definitions and fairness need to be addressed.
• Recommendations include clearer role hierarchies, standardized policies, and metadata integration.