Examples
Worked examples
- Is an instance
A doctoral candidate listed as 'Conceptualization: lead' alongside their supervisor as 'Conceptualization: supporting' to reflect that the candidate originated the research question
Counter-examples
Looks similar, but isn't
- Not an instance
Listing the most senior author as 'Conceptualization: lead' by convention, when in fact a junior author originated the idea, misrepresents the contribution
Editorial commentary
Within CRediT’s Conceptualization role, the lead/supporting qualifier distinguishes the contributor who formulated the project’s overarching research question, aims, or ideas (“Conceptualization: lead”) from contributors who developed or refined that framing without originating it (“Conceptualization: supporting”). Conceptualization is one of the two CRediT roles — alongside Methodology — most closely aligned with ICMJE’s first authorship criterion, “substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work,” which makes the lead/supporting distinction matter for how a paper’s origin is actually recorded.
How it differs from related terms: This is one specific application of CASRAI’s degree-of-contribution qualifier, which can be applied to any of the 14 CRediT roles, not only Conceptualization; Funding acquisition: lead vs. supporting applies the identical mechanism to a different role.
A doctoral candidate who originated a project’s core research question, working under a supervisor who helped refine it, would appropriately be listed “Conceptualization: lead” with the supervisor “Conceptualization: supporting” — a distinction seniority alone should not override.
References
- NISO CRediT Standard, ANSI/NISO Z39.104-2022
- Brand et al., “Beyond authorship,” Learned Publishing (2015)
Also known as
CRediT conceptualization qualifier
Machine-readable encodings
Use in your systems
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vocab-term="Conceptualization lead vs supporting"
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"datePublished": "2026-05-21T02:00:20",
"dateModified": "2026-08-22T15:05:02",
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