A high-level classification of the diverse roles performed in the work leading to a published research output in the sciences. Its purpose to provide transparency in contributions to scholarly published work, to enable improved systems of attribution, credit, and accountability.
contributor role
Creation and/or presentation of a published research object, such as books, journal articles, and other publications like technical documentation, web sites, code, ontologies, or data models.
Preparation, creation and/or presentation of figures for a manuscript, presentation or other use.
Translating words or text from one language to another.
Includes literature searches and contributions to review activities (systematic reviews, scoping reviews, etc.)
Coordination of research dissemination through popular media and the press, as well as community outreach and liaising of project directly to the community.
Creation or refinement of a website, a set of related web pages served from a single web domain.
A communication role that encompasses facilitate co-operation between people or organizations.
(2009) The functions and roles of network facilitators. In: Franz HW., Sarcina R. (eds) Building Leadership in Project and Network Management. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
A communication role that involves the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.
A communication role in which one records the details of an event, a process, a workflow, etc.
A communication role that utilizes the art or profession of using design elements (such as typography and images) to convey information, create visualizations, or create an effect.
A role that encompasses effective and efficient operation and usage of data, including, but not limited to management, handling, or manipulation.
A role in which a person participates in the transfer of knowledge and skills, through teaching, development of educational materials or curriculum, through program development or other means.
A role that involves the development, management, and use of computer-based information systems.
obsolete information technology systems role
Verification that software meets requirements; validation that software meets users' needs, identification of software bugs, assessment of software performance and usability.
A role related to creations of the mind, such as inventions; literary and artistic works; designs; and symbols, names and images used in commerce. from.
Policy development generally involves research, analysis, consultation and synthesis of information to produce recommendations for action by an individual or an organization. It should also involve an evaluation of options against a set of criteria used to assess each option.
Set of activities aimed at prolonging the life of a record.
Manage regulatory and compliance issues for the research project.
A person that is responsible for usage of instrumentation, such as equipment or devices, or instruments like a survey or questionnaire.
Management activities to annotate, maintain, research, and preserve physical objects to maximize their use for research and education now and into the future.
Activities to obtain physical objects for research or scholarly purposes or to add to a collection.
Coordination of diverse team members, often across different disciplines and locations.
The compiling of information with intent to prepare combined datasets for data processing.
Stanley, Jay; Steinhardt, Barry (January 2003). "Bigger Monster, Weaker Chains: The Growth of an American Surveillance Society". American Civil Liberties Union.
Statistical aspects of research, including data collection, organization, analysis, interpretation and presentation of data from surveys and experiments
The process of gathering and measuring data, information or any variables of interest in a standardized and established manner that enables the collector to answer or test hypothesis and evaluate outcomes of the particular collection.
The annotation of data with descriptive information that describes the data (metadata), with the goal of making the data more usuable or reusable for future use.
The process of inputting data into a computerized form.
The process of combining data from different sources to provide a standardized or unified view.
The process of creating a data model for an information system by applying certain formal techniques.
A procedure intended to verify the efficiency and reliability of data.
The process of creating data standards, which are the rules by which data are described and recorded in order to share, exchange, and understand data. Examples include development of an ontology, terminology, code lists, etc.
An educational role in which a person develops educational or training materials that are intended to transfer knowledge, for use in a classroom, indpendent learning or other settings.
An educational role in which a person participates in the development of an educational program, designed for learners to achieve a set of compentencies around a given topic or area of focus.
An educational role in which knowledge and skills are transferred through teaching.
This may be equivalent to vivo:Teacher Role.
An information technology systems role that specifically focuses on the computer hardware, the physical components of a computer system.
An information technology systems role that specifically focuses on the computer software, the non-tangible executable component of a computer.
A role usually within the Information Technology department, charged with the creation, maintenance, backups, querying, tuning, user rights assignment and security of an organization's databases.
A software systems role that involves maintenance and operation of a computer system and/or network.
A methodology role that involves development of information that suggests how something should be done.
standard operating procedure development role
A methodology role that involves creation of a detailed plan of a scientific or medical experiment, treatment, or procedure.
A methodology role that involves the development or creation of an established or prescribed methods to be followed routinely for the performance of designated operations or in designated situations.
obsolete standard operating procedure development role
Detailed design of study components including data collection, analysis, and dissemination.
A methodology role that involves the creation or refinement of a manner or method by which an activity is performed.
A role charged with conceptualization, design, development and marketing of complex equipment.
A person that is responsible for operating equipment or instrumentation and/or that ensures equipment is well-maintained, properly configured, and safely functional.
Creation or refinement of a survey or questionnaire, a list of questions aimed at extracting specific data from a particular group of people.
survey and questionnaire development role
Examination of software code to identify build-breaking changes prior to acceptance into a codebase.
Algorithm development and implementation of software in a computer programming language.
Creation of high-level structures of a software system.
Creation of low-level software component and algorithm design.
Systematic application of scientific and technological knowledge, methods, and experience to the design, implementation, testing, and documentation of software.
Planning, management, and monitoring of projects.
A professional who assesses, collects, organizes, preserves, maintains control over, and provides access to information determined to have long-term value.
A person responsible for the preservation of artistic and cultural artifacts.
A role that includes the formal endeavor to ensure that digital information of continuing value remains accessible, trustworthy, and usable.
Aggregation, integration, manipulation of data.
The process of creating standards, which aare an established norm or requirement in regard to technical systems. It is usually a formal document that establishes uniform engineering or technical criteria, methods, processes, and practices.
Verification, whether as a part of the activity or separate, of the overall replication/reproducibility of results/experiments and other research outputs.
A role that includes the design and implementation of the physical components of a computer system.
information technology hardware systems design and implementation role
obsolete IT hardware systems design and implementation role
Contribution to the basic, underlying framework or features of a system or organization.
Evaluation is a systematic method for collecting, analyzing, and using information to answer questions about projects, policies and programs, particularly about their effectiveness and efficiency.
project, policy or program evaluation role
An infrastructure role that is accountable for management and coordination of a program, to help achieve the program goals.
The organization of the different elements needed to implement a study.
Oversight and leadership responsibility for the research activity planning and execution, including mentorship external to the core team.
A communication role which involves the dynamic relational process that facilitates communication, interaction, involvement, and exchange between an organization and a community for a range of social and organizational outcomes.
Johnston, K. A. (2018). Toward a theory of social engagement. In K. A. Johnston & M. Taylor (Eds.), The Handbook of Communication Engagement (pp. 19-32). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
A communication role that involves development or production of materials, such as brochures, websites, flyers, presentations, etc., for the purposes of promotion of a entity, like a project, group or organization.
Role that involves identifying eligible participants, explaining the study to potential participants, recruiting an adequate sample based on study goals and design, obtaining informed consent/maintaining ethical standards, and retaining participants until study completion.
Ideas; formulation or evolution of overarching research goals and aims.
One who is proficient in the relevant skill and technique, with a relatively practical understanding of the theoretical principles.
Creation and/or presentation of the published work, specifically writing the initial draft (including substantive translation).
A role in which one provides a summary of a research output, such as a journal article, that is understandable by a lay person or non-expert audience.
A method or steps that maintain, update content, clean up, or repair a website.
A documentation role that involves preparation of instruction manuals, journal articles, and other supporting documents to communicate complex and technical information more easily.
The tasks that go into determining the needs or conditions to meet for a new or altered software product or project, taking account of the possibly conflicting requirements of the various stakeholders, analyzing, documenting, validating and managing software or system requirements.
Kotonya, G. and Sommerville, I. 1998. Requirements Engineering: Processes and Techniques Chichester, UK: John Wiley and Sons.
Obtaining a material entity for potential use as an input during an investigation.
In botany, this is the collector listed first for a particular specimen. Each specimen has one primary collector. The primary collector assigns a number to that specimen from his/her own number series.
Evaluation of grant applications by others working in the same field.
Selecting, ordering, and receiving materials or physical objects for research, scholarly, library or archival collections.
The person or organization that provides money for a particular purpose, such as a grant to perform research.
The person or organization that is responsible for a new or novel discovery, i.e., the process of finding information, a place, or an object, especially for the first time, or the thing that is found. For example, a researcher discovering a new gene mutation that contributes to a disease.
A person or organization who helps guide a patient through the healthcare system. This includes help going through the screening, diagnosis, treatment (including clinical trials), and follow-up of a medical condition, such as cancer.
Oral presentation intended to present information or teach people about a particular subject, such as a talk or poster presentation at a conference.
Evaluation of scientific, academic, or professional work, such as manuscripts or grants by others working in the same field.
A role that involves giving advice in a particular field.
A role that is realized through the modification of an existing artifact (e.g. adding or removing content to/from a document, updating information in a data record, fixing errors in a manuscript, etc.)
The nature of a modification will vary depending on the type of artifact being modified, and more specific terms may exist in the CRO to describe certain types of modification.
A role that is realized through the act of formally accepting an artifact for inclusion in some larger resource (e.g. database, registry, collection, etc.)
An agent accepting an artifact possesses the authority to decide if it belongs in a particular resource or collection. This agent may or may not also have directly evaluated it themselves - but if they did, an 'evaluator role' could additionally be captured.
A role that is realized through the act of formally submitting or depositing an artifact to be included in some larger resource (e.g. database, registry, collection, etc.)
An agent submitting an artifact may or may not also have contributed to its creation. If they did, and additional ‘creator role’ can be applied.
A role that is realized through the review and evaluation of an artifact - generally to assess its quality, completeness, relevance, or other characteristics.
Evaluating an artifact does not involve modification of the assessed artifact - however the suggestion of alterations can be a separate outcome of an evaluation. If the artifact is modified by the agent during or subsequent to the evaluation, a 'modifier role' should additionally be applied.
A role used to indicate that an agent was the creator of an artifact (i.e. had significant or sole responsibility for its initial generation).
This is a generic role to be used when a more specific term suitable for the contribution scenario is not available or warranted. For example, the 'author role' term describes creator roles for published works, and should be used to describe creation of things like books or journal articles.
A role that involves creation, maintenance or administration of a database.
A person who deals with provision and maintenance of information in many formats, including: books; electronic resources; magazines; newspapers; audio and video recordings; maps; manuscripts; photographs and other graphic material; bibliographic databases; and web-based and digital resources. A librarian may also provide other information services, including: information literacy instruction; computer provision and training; coordination with community groups to host public programs; assistive technology for people with disabilities; and assistance locating community resources. Librarians often work in a library, but can also work in other physical settings or virtual environments.