Type of ContributionsExamples
Conceptual Contributions
  • Contribute the key idea behind the work
  • Have critical insight that breaks a conceptual logjam
  • Create theoretical ideas or frameworks
  • Contribute relevant literature
Methodological Contributions
  • Bring expertise in a particular research approach
  • Develop or share relevant software for modeling or analysis
  • Bring statistical expertise
  • Create visualizations that help create understanding during analysis
  • Provide data curation
Resource Contributions
  • Help obtain grant funding
  • Contribute funds from an existing source
  • Possess relevant specialized skills (either self or staff)
  • Build or provide access to specialized equipment or facilities
  • Provide critical materials (e.g., cell lines)
  • Provide existing data sets
  • Recruit research participants
    • Especially if special populations are required
    • Establishing relations to organizations that link to relevant populations
    Project Level Contributions
    • Provide overall project administration, leadership
      • Especially important for geographically distributed projects
      • Especially important for cross-disciplinary collaborations
    • Be a liaison to a key community or organization
    • Introduce or refer important people to team members
      • Support team building, getting researchers to speak the same language, trust each other, mentor
    Dissemination Contributions
    • Take leadership in creating the papers
      • Do significant work in editing papers for clarification and transparency
    • Create and give presentations
    • Translate the research to practitioners and the public
    • Create useful visualizations of data or the models for others to understand
    • Commercialize the technologies, acquire patents