Examples
Worked examples
- Is an instance
A PI listed in CRediT as 'Funding acquisition: lead' with two co-investigators as 'Funding acquisition: supporting'
Counter-examples
Looks similar, but isn't
- Not an instance
Listing every author with 'Funding acquisition: equal' when only one wrote and led the grant is not a faithful CRediT application
Editorial commentary
Within CRediT’s Funding acquisition role, the lead/supporting qualifier — formalised across all 14 CRediT roles in the NISO CRediT standard (ANSI/NISO Z39.104-2022) — distinguishes the contributor who led acquisition of financial support for a project (“Funding acquisition: lead,” typically the named principal investigator on the award) from contributors who supported the proposal without leading it (“Funding acquisition: supporting,” typically named co-investigators or collaborators who wrote specific sections).
How it differs from related terms: This applies the same qualifier mechanism documented generally under degree-of-contribution qualifier to one specific CRediT role; Conceptualization: lead vs. supporting is the same distinction applied to a different role entirely. Funding-acquisition credit is also distinct from lab leadership, which credits ongoing scientific direction of a group rather than the specific act of securing a grant.
Marking every co-investigator “Funding acquisition: equal” when in practice one person wrote and led the grant application misrepresents the contribution and defeats the purpose of the qualifier.
References
- NISO CRediT Standard, ANSI/NISO Z39.104-2022
- Brand et al., “Beyond authorship,” Learned Publishing (2015)
Also known as
CRediT funding acquisition qualifier
Machine-readable encodings
Use in your systems
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vocab-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/"
vocab-term="Funding-acquisition lead vs supporting"
vocab-term-identifier="https://casrai.org/dictionary/term/funding-acquisition-lead-vs-supporting" />{
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"description": "Under the CRediT taxonomy, the distinction between the contributor who led the funding acquisition for a research project (typically the named principal investigator on the grant) and contributors who supported but did not lead the proposal (co-investigators, named collaborators).",
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"sameAs": [
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],
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"publisher": {
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},
"author": {
"@id": "https://casrai.org/#editorial-team"
},
"datePublished": "2026-05-21T02:00:13",
"dateModified": "2026-08-22T15:05:04",
"inLanguage": "en-GB",
"isAccessibleForFree": true
}
