Shared vocabularies for research administration.

Layer 2 · Hubs

Audience-specific guidance

The same standards, translated for the people who use them: authors, institutions, publishers, integrators. Worked examples, templates, FAQs.

4 audience hubs · 7 verticals

Layer 3 · Editorial

News, perspectives, working groups

What's changing in research-administration standards — and how to operate inside that change. Annual reports + monthly bulletin.

State of CRediT 2026 just published

All 14 roles in detail →Statement builder ↗

Browse by research cluster

Nine topical clusters

Every guide, comparison, and definition on the site belongs to one of nine research-administration clusters. Each cluster pillar is the hub for its sub-topics and worked guidance.

CRediT & Authorship Attribution

Contributor roles, authorship criteria and order, integrity and disputes.

Research Data Management

DMPs, repositories, FAIR data, metadata standards, and reproducibility.

Persistent Identifiers & CRIS

ORCID, DOI, ROR, research-information systems, and bibliometrics.

Research Integrity & Compliance

Misconduct oversight, research security, export control, and ethics.

Scholarly Publishing

Open access, transformative agreements, research assessment, and metadata.

Scholarly Writing

Manuscript conventions, proposal craft, and reviewer-response writing.

Grants Management & Funding

The funding lifecycle, agencies and foundations, and award compliance.

Technology Transfer & Innovation

University IP, licensing mechanics, spinouts, and startup formation.

Clinical Research Administration

Trial operations, regulatory pathways, and billing compliance.

Flagship standard

The Contributor Roles Taxonomy

Fourteen standardised roles for attributing contributions to scholarly research outputs. Originated 2012; CASRAI-stewarded from 2014; formalised as ANSI/NISO Z39.104-2022. Used by 50+ publishers across thousands of journals.

Conceptualization
Data curation
Formal analysis
Funding acquisition
Investigation
Methodology
Project administration
Resources
Software
Supervision
Validation
Visualization
Writing — original draft
Writing — review & editing

Featured this release

Selected dictionary entries

A taste of what's inside v2026.1 — pull any entry to see its definition, picklists, related terms, and citation form.

Browse all 1,610 entries →

Sale-Leaseback (Equipment)

An equipment sale-leaseback is a two-part transaction, executed together, in which an institution that already owns a piece of equipment (1) sells it to a buyer-lessor at fair market value and (2) immediately leases the same equipment back for continued operational use. It qualifies as a distinct instance of this concept only when both legs occur as part of the same arrangement and the seller retains uninterrupted physical use of the asset; a disposal followed by acquiring different, replacement equipment is not a sale-leaseback, and a loan collateralized by owned equipment (with no transfer of title) is not a sale-leaseback either.

clinical-research· Contribution→

Ancillary Materials in Cell Therapy Manufacturing

A raw material used during the manufacture of a cell, gene, or tissue-engineered product that contacts the cells or construct during processing but is not intended to remain in the final product administered to the patient (e.g., growth factors, cytokines, enzymes, selection reagents, culture media additives) -- as distinct from a 'component,' which is a raw material deliberately carried through into the finished product. Qualification rigor is risk-tiered per USP General Chapter <1043>, based on the material's existing quality pedigree (cGMP manufacturing history, prior regulatory approval) versus weaker documentation such as research-use-only labeling.

Temperature Monitoring Alarm

A temperature monitoring alarm is the notification component of a temperature monitoring system: the function that detects a monitored storage condition moving outside its defined safe range and actively alerts a responsible person, rather than simply recording the excursion for later review. A monitoring setup only has a functioning alarm -- as distinct from a data logger that merely stores readings -- when three things are true together: (1) a defined threshold (high, low, or both, and often a duration threshold to filter brief door-opening events from real excursions) triggers the notification automatically, without a person having to check a screen or download a log; (2) the notification reaches a specific accountable person or on-call rotation through a channel independent of a single point of failure, typically an escalation sequence -- local audible/visual alarm, then app push or email, then SMS or automated phone call, then a secondary contact or central monitoring station if the first contact does not acknowledge within a defined window; and (3) the alarm's own function (power supply, connectivity, and trigger logic) is itself periodically tested and that testing is documented, since an alarm that has never been verified to actually fire is not meaningfully different from having no alarm.

21 CFR Part 11 Temperature Monitoring

A temperature-monitoring system (freezer, refrigerator, incubator, or cold-room monitor) is accurately called "21 CFR Part 11 compliant" only when its electronic records -- and any electronic signatures applied to them -- meet 21 CFR Part 11 Subpart B/C requirements as actually configured, validated, and used at a specific site: a secure audit trail, unique attributable user accounts, documented system validation (IQ/OQ/PQ), retrievable retention, access controls, and (if used) compliant electronic signatures. It is a property of site-level configuration and validation, not a certificate a vendor sells.

Life sciences and biology· Contribution→

Thermal Cycler Specifications

<p>Thermal cycler specifications are the documented set of performance parameters — block format and sample capacity, ramp rate, temperature accuracy and uniformity, gradient range, lid control, and connectivity/data-logging features — that a manufacturer publishes for a PCR instrument and that a buyer uses to compare models against a specific assay's requirements. In a procurement context, a spec sheet is not a marketing document to skim; it is the primary evidence a lab manager or procurement officer can hold a vendor to, and it is what should be cross-checked against method validation records, accreditation requirements, and service contracts before an order is placed. A thermal cycler that is technically capable of amplifying DNA does not necessarily meet the documented performance a regulated or accredited lab needs for a specific application — that gap is exactly what a specifications comparison is meant to close.</p>

Scientific Data Management System (SDMS)

A scientific data management system (SDMS) is laboratory software that automatically captures, indexes, and archives electronic data files generated by lab instruments (chromatography, spectroscopy, balances, plate readers, raw instrument logs) in their original native format, and makes that archive centrally searchable, version-controlled, and audit-trail-protected. It is distinguished operationally from a shared drive or manual file store by automated unattended capture direct from the instrument, metadata extraction that makes files findable without opening each one, and a tamper-evident audit trail logging every access, export, or modification attempt. An SDMS is the raw-data archive layer beneath a LIMS (sample/workflow/results management) and an ELN (experimental narrative record), and typically integrates with one or both rather than replacing either.

GDGenerative AI use and disclosure CECRediT extensions and adjacent contribution vocabularies MCSMentorship, training, and career stages ROResearch outputs (expanded)PScholarly publishing

Twenty-four domains · Five tracks

The full domain map

The Dictionary is organised into 24 thematic domains across 5 tracks — from contribution and identifiers to compliance, methods, and assessment reform. Each domain is stewarded by a working group.

Track AContribution5 domains

Track BIdentifiers3 domains

PIThe persistent identifier ecosystem RISResearch-information systems and integration DIResearch data infrastructure

Track CData & methods3 domains

MADMachine-actionable data management plans RReproducibility and computational research AMROAI and ML research outputs

Track DCompliance5 domains

RIResearch integrity and misconduct CRCompliance and regulatory RSResearch security IDCIndigenous data governance — CARE principles CRClinical research and clinical trials

Track EAssessment8 domains

RAResponsible research assessment KEKnowledge equity, diversity, global-south inclusion EISEngagement, impact, and SDG alignment SRSustainable research and laboratory operations FFFunding lifecycle and financial vocabulary GMGrants management and sponsor compliance RLResearch lifecycle stages and project metadata TTTechnology transfer and commercialization

All 24 domains in detail →

The PID ecosystem

Five identifiers, one research artefact

Modern research administration runs on persistent identifiers. ORCID for the researcher, ROR for the institution, RAiD (ISO 23527:2022) for the project, DOI for the output, and IGSN / PIDINST for samples and instruments.

ORCID — Person — required by most funders + publishers
ROR — Organisation — replacing GRID
RAiD — Project — formal ISO standard since 2022
DOI — Outputs — Crossref + DataCite + mEDRA
IGSN / PIDINST — Samples and instruments — DataCite-stewarded

→ PID stack for researchers → ORCID vs ROR vs RAiD comparison

Built to interoperate, not duplicate

Our work, alongside other standards bodies

CASRAI does not re-derive what NISO, euroCRIS, CODATA, RDA, ORCID, Crossref, DataCite, and ARDC already steward — several trace to CASRAI assets transferred to them in 2020. We cross-walk and incubate against their standards — see our standards & releases catalogue for the full list of normative outputs, and regional hubs for adoption status by country.

See how our standards align →

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Tool · CRediT

Statement builder

Paste authors → tick roles → export plaintext / Markdown / JATS XML with canonical NISO URIs.

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AI disclosure helper

Pick your target publisher (10 policies built in) → tool used + uses → publisher-aligned disclosure block.

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Tool · Citations

Citation generator

Paste a CASRAI URL → get APA, MLA, Chicago, Vancouver, BibTeX, RIS, CSL JSON, JATS XML, or JSON-LD.

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The same standards, for the people who use them

Researchers, institutions, publishers, and integrators get different views of the same dictionary.

For Authors

ORCID, CRediT, narrative CVs

Get an ORCID iD, write a CRediT statement, structure a narrative CV, navigate AI-disclosure expectations.

For Institutions

CRIS, compliance, library practice

Plug the dictionary into your CRIS. Train your research office. Templates for adoption policies.

For Publishers

Submission, JATS, scorecard

Adopt CRediT in your submission system. JATS implementation guide. Public implementation scorecard.

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GraphQL endpoint. REST API. Model Context Protocol server for AI agents. JATS / JSON-LD encoding.