Contribution types

Contributions to the creation and management of data objects and studies can come from both individuals and organisations in a variety of ways, and this table lists the contribution types that can be referenced.

In the listing below, types 11 through 31 are all listed as types by DataCite, and the names and descriptions are therefore identical to those in DataCite. The only difference is that type 11, Creator, is a separate data field in DataCite, but in the MDR it is just another contributor type.

Types 32 through to 71 were added by ECRIN to reflect contribution types specific to clinical research. Type 72 is an additional type found in Pubmed citations.

In general, the contributions to a study will also be contributors (indirectly) to the data objects generated from that system. The MDR therefore includes mechanisms to automatically transfer contributor records from a study to the linked associated data objects. The current contributor types are listed below:

id	name	description	source
11	Creator	The main researchers involved in producing the data, or the authors of the publication, in priority order. To supply multiple creators, repeat this property. May be a corporate/institutional or personal name.	DataCite
12	Contact Person	Person with knowledge of how to access, troubleshoot, or otherwise field issues related to the resource. May also be “Point of Contact” in organisation that controls access to the resource.	DataCite
13	Data Collector	Person/institution responsible for finding, gathering/collecting data under the guidelines of the author(s) or Principal Investigator (PI).	DataCite
14	Data Curator	style="padding-bottom:10px;" | Person tasked with reviewing, enhancing, cleaning, or standardizing metadata and the associated data submitted for storage, use, and maintenance within a data centre or repository. The Data Curator’s role encompasses quality assurance focused on content and metadata, e.g. checking whether the submitted dataset is complete, with all files and components as described by submitter, whether the metadata is standardized to appropriate systems and schema, whether specialized metadata is needed to add value and ensure access across disciplines, and determining how the metadata might map to search engines, database products, and automated feeds.	DataCite
15	Data Manager	Person (or organisation with a staff of data managers, such as a data centre) responsible for maintaining the finished resource. The work done by this person or organisation ensures that the resource is periodically “refreshed” in terms of software/hardware support, is kept available or is protected from unauthorized access, is stored in accordance with industry standards, and is handled in accordance with the records management requirements applicable to it.	DataCite
16	Distributor	Institution tasked with responsibility to generate/disseminate copies of the resource in either electronic or print form. Works stored in more than one archive/repository may credit each as a distributor.	DataCite
17	Editor	A person who oversees the details related to the publication format of the resource. If the Editor is to be credited in place of multiple creators, the Editor’s name may be supplied as Creator, with “(Ed.)” appended to the name.	DataCite
18	Hosting Institution	Typically, the organisation allowing the resource to be available on the internet through the provision of its hardware/software/operating support. May also be used for an organisation that stores the data offline. Often a data centre (if that data centre is not the “publisher” of the resource).	DataCite
19	Producer	Typically a person or organisation responsible for the artistry and form of a media product. In the data industry, this may be a company “producing” DVDs that package data for future dissemination by a distributor.	DataCite
20	Project Leader	Person officially designated as head of project team or subproject team instrumental in the work necessary to development of the resource. The Project Leader is not “removed” from the work that resulted in the resource; he or she remains intimately involved throughout the life of the particular project team.	DataCite
21	Project Manager	Person officially designated as manager of a project. Project may consist of one or many project teams and sub-teams. The manager of a project normally has more administrative responsibility than actual work involvement.	DataCite
22	Project Member	Person on the membership list of a designated project/project team. This vocabulary may or may not indicate the quality, quantity, or substance of the person’s involvement.	DataCite
23	Registration Agency	Institution/organisation officially appointed by a Registration Authority to handle specific tasks within a defined area of responsibility, e.g. DataCite is a Registration Agency for the International DOI Foundation (IDF).	DataCite
24	Registration Authority	A standards-setting body from which Registration Agencies obtain official recognition and guidance, e.g. the IDF serves as the Registration Authority for the International Standards Organisation (ISO) in the area/domain of Digital Object Identifiers.	DataCite
25	Related Person	A person without a specifically defined role in the development of the resource, but who is someone the author wishes to recognize. This person could be an author’s intellectual mentor, a person providing intellectual leadership in the discipline or subject domain, etc.	DataCite
26	Researcher	A person involved in analyzing data or the results of an experiment or formal study. May indicate an intern or assistant to one of the authors who helped with research but who was not so “key” as to be listed as an author. Should be a person, not an institution.	DataCite
27	Research Group	Typically refers to a group of individuals with a lab, department, or division; the group has a particular, defined focus of activity. May operate at a narrower level of scope; may or may not hold less administrative responsibility than a project team.	DataCite
28	Rights Holder	Person or institution owning or managing property rights, including intellectual property rights over the resource.	DataCite
29	Sponsor	Person or organisation that issued a contract or under the auspices of which a work has been written, printed, published, developed, etc. Includes organisations that provide in-kind support, through donation, provision of people or a facility or instrumentation necessary for the development of the resource, etc.	DataCite
30	Supervisor	Designated administrator over one or more groups/teams working to produce a resource or over one or more steps of a development process.	DataCite
31	Work Package Leader	A Work Package is a recognized data product, not all of which is included in publication. The package, instead, may include notes, discarded documents, etc. The Work Package Leader is responsible for ensuring the comprehensive contents, versioning, and availability of the Work Package during the development of the resource.	DataCite
51	CT Coordinating Investigator	The individual who, if not the sponsor themselves, leads and co-ordinates the scientific and clinical activity within a clinical study, including co-ordinating the work of principal investigators at clinical sites.	ECRIN
52	CT Site Principal investigator	The individual responsible for the safe conduct of a clinical trial at a particular clinical site.	ECRIN
53	Clinical Study Manager	An individual responsible for the operational management of a clinical study. Similar to a Project Manager but a study manager is heavily involved in the management of data and data collection.	ECRIN
54	Trial Sponsor	The organisation or individual that has the formal, legal role of a clinical trial sponsor, and is legally responsible for all aspects of a clinical trial.	ECRIN
55	Sponsor contact	An individual representing the sponsor and acting as an initial contact point.	ECRIN
56	Public contact	An individual designated as dealing with non-scientific queries from the public or press.	ECRIN
57	Recruitment contact	An individual designated as providing periodic updates on recruitment information or status, at all sites, usually for monitoring purposes.	ECRIN
58	Study Funder	An organisation providing some or all of the additional funds required for the study.	ECRIN
59	Funder contact	An individual representing the funder and acting as an initial contact point.	ECRIN
60	Independent monitoring committee member	A member of a safety monitoring committee for a clinical trial, independent of the researchers and research activity.	ECRIN
61	Medicinal product supplier	Organisation that provides one or more of the medicines investigated in a clinical study.	ECRIN
62	Medical device supplier	Organisation that provides one or more of the medical devices in a clinical study.	ECRIN
63	Logistics support organisation	Organisation that provides logistical input, e.g. provides a drug distribution service.	ECRIN
64	Scientific support organisation	Organisation that provides scientific support, e.g. a national or international research network.	ECRIN
65	Central Laboratory	Organisation that provides a central specialist laboratory testing facility.	ECRIN
66	Central Imaging facility	Organisation that provides a central specialist imaging or scanning facility.	ECRIN
67	Clinical organisation	Organisation, usually a primary or secondary health care organisation, that manages one or more of the sites where a clinical study takes place.	ECRIN
68	Clinical site	Organisation or location, usually in a primary or secondary health care organisation, that is one of the sites where a clinical study takes place.	ECRIN
69	Collaborating organisation	May be listed as a secondary sponsor, an organisation other than the lead sponsor involved in supporting a study.	ECRIN
70	Sponsor-investigator	An individual with the role of sponsor as well as being the co-ordinating investigator for the study.	ECRIN
71	Results contact	The individual, occasionally organisation, to be contacted for further information on the study results.	ECRIN
72	Research Group Member	From PubMed, an 'investigator' is an individual (e.g., collaborator or investigator) who is not an author of a paper but is listed as a member of a collective/corporate group that is an author of the paper.	PubMed
90	Other	Any person or institution making a significant contribution to the development and/or maintenance of the resource, but whose contribution does not “fit” other controlled vocabulary for contributor type.	DataCite
0	Not yet known	Dummy value supplied by default on entity creation.	ECRIN