Overview
Where eLife stands on CRediT
eLife announced the introduction of CRediT for author contributions on Jan 4, 2017 (per eLife’s own "Inside eLife" post) and requires a structured CRediT contributor statement on every submission. Roles are part of the manuscript record and are published with the article alongside the public peer-review process eLife runs.
Scope: Required for all eLife submissions
Implementation details
How CRediT is captured and produced
| Submission system | Custom (eLife platform, built on the Coko ecosystem) |
| JATS implementation | Native JATS <role vocab="credit"> output as part of eLifes open-source publishing toolchain; CRediT data flows into the public manuscript record alongside reviewer and editor contributions. |
| Production workflow | CRediT data flows from the submission record into the eLife JATS XML and into the published article. Because eLife publishes peer-review reports, the platform also captures structured reviewer contribution metadata. |
For authors
Author guidance — submitting to a eLife journal
When submitting to eLife, complete the per-author CRediT role assignment in the submission interface. Authors can also acknowledge reviewer and editor contributions, which eLife publishes as part of its open editorial model.
For general CRediT submission guidance across publishers, see CRediT for authors.
Sample journals
Representative eLife titles with CRediT capture
- eLife
Adoption history
Notable milestones
eLife was an early advocate of CRediT in the open-science community, announcing adoption Jan 4, 2017 (eLife’s own "Inside eLife" post), and pairs structured CRediT with public peer-review reports under the eLife model launched in 2023. (An earlier version of this page cited 2018; corrected 2026-07-16 against eLife’s own dated announcement.)
Notes
Caveats and context
Since 2023, eLife does not issue accept/reject decisions — every paper that passes peer review is published with a public eLife Assessment.
Frequently asked
Common questions about eLife and CRediT
- Does eLife require CRediT contributor statements?
- Yes. eLife captures structured CRediT statements as part of its standard submission flow. eLife announced the introduction of CRediT for author contributions on Jan 4, 2017 (per eLife’s own "Inside eLife" post) and requires a structured CRediT contributor statement on every submission. Roles are part of the manuscript record and are published with the article alongside the public peer-review process eLife runs.
- Which eLife journals support CRediT?
- Representative eLife titles known to support structured CRediT capture include eLife. Scope: Required for all eLife submissions. Check the individual journals author instructions to confirm the current contributor-roles policy.
- How do I add CRediT to my eLife submission?
- When submitting to eLife, complete the per-author CRediT role assignment in the submission interface. Authors can also acknowledge reviewer and editor contributions, which eLife publishes as part of its open editorial model.
- What submission system does eLife use for CRediT capture?
- eLife uses Custom (eLife platform, built on the Coko ecosystem). Native JATS <role vocab="credit"> output as part of eLifes open-source publishing toolchain; CRediT data flows into the public manuscript record alongside reviewer and editor contributions.
- When did eLife adopt CRediT?
- eLife adopted CRediT around 2017. eLife was an early advocate of CRediT in the open-science community, announcing adoption Jan 4, 2017 (eLife’s own "Inside eLife" post), and pairs structured CRediT with public peer-review reports under the eLife model launched in 2023. (An earlier version of this page cited 2018; corrected 2026-07-16 against eLife’s own dated announcement.)
References
Sources
- "Inside eLife" — Introducing CRediT for author contributions (Jan 4, 2017), elifesciences.org
- Holcombe (2019) Publications — CRediT adoption review
