Description of Author Contributions while Submitting a Manuscript: The CREDIT System

Abstract

Introduction: The scientific community is increasingly discussing issues of publication ethics, the key of which is the objective description of the author's contribution to the creation of an article manuscript. The existence of a universal system for describing author contributions will avoid cases of honorary and ghost authorship, transparently illuminating the depth of each author's involvement in the work on the manuscript based on the results of the conducted research.

Description of the CREDIT system: Academic tradition dictates the need for each author of an article to participate directly in the creation of its manuscript. The manuscript is a consequence of the conducted research, which requires the active involvement of its actors and a high level of development of their research competence. Hence, the contribution to the authorship of the article is determined not only by participation in the creation of its manuscript, but also by the overall involvement of the research participant in its implementation. The CREDIT authorship model allows for the objective recording of the research energy of each specific actor of the research project, for the balanced formation of research teams. The CRediT taxonomy describes all possible author roles: some of them are independent, and some can only act in pair with a more "strong" role.

Conclusion: A detailed description of the taxonomy and protocol for registering author contributions will allow authors to declare the degree of their own involvement quickly and transparently in the research and record its results.