Is CRediT required on Gates Open Research?

Yes - Gates Open Research requires a complete CRediT statement at submission as a structured field, similarly to Wellcome Open Research and Open Research Europe.

Does Gates require CRediT on articles published in third-party journals?

Strongly recommended. The Gates open-access policy explicitly references contributorship; in practice, most receiving journals require CRediT, so the publication-layer expectation is consistently met.

How does Gates handle hybrid OA?

Permitted only if the article is immediately CC BY. Hybrid OA in subscription journals without CC BY at time of publication fails Gates open-access compliance.

How should local-investigator contributions in LMIC settings appear in CRediT?

Using the same role taxonomy as any other contributor. Where local investigators lead protocol adaptation, in-country implementation, or community engagement, those contributions typically map to Conceptualization, Methodology, Investigation, or Data curation; relegating substantive LMIC contribution to Acknowledgements is a known equity issue that CRediT directly counters.

Does Gates Open Research integrate with ORCID?

Yes - Gates Open Research uses ORCID for author identification, and CRediT roles attach to the ORCID-identified author on each article.

CRediT statement guide

Gates Foundation - using CRediT in your application

Gates Foundation recommends CRediT statements and requires them on Gates Open Research submissions. The foundation's policy is one of the strongest CRediT endorsements in the private-funder space, reflecting its co-investment in Plan S and open-research infrastructure.

RecommendedPolicy year 2017United StatesBack to Gates Foundation funder mandate

At application stage

What Gates Foundation asks for in proposals

Gates Foundation applications are submitted through the foundation's Grants Portal. Application formats vary by request-for-proposal (RFP) but generally include a structured project plan, budget, theory of change, evaluation framework, and team-composition description. Federally-standardised biosketches are not required.

Where to embed a CRediT statement

The team-composition section of most Gates RFPs invites description of who will do what. CRediT vocabulary inside that section gives Gates programme officers a precise account of role allocation. For applications involving research in low- and middle-income countries, local-investigator contributions can be articulated using CRediT roles to make substantive intellectual contribution visible. The theory-of-change and evaluation-framework sections do not require CRediT.

Sample wording

In a Gates RFP team-composition narrative: "The country lead investigator at [local institution] will hold Conceptualization and Methodology for the in-country protocol adaptation; the principal investigator at [primary institution] will hold Investigation and Formal analysis for the cross-country synthesis."

At final-report stage

How CRediT figures in Gates Foundation progress and final reports

Gates Foundation grant reporting follows per-grant deliverables and annual narrative reports defined in the investment agreement. Resulting publications are recorded through the grant-management portal. Gates Open Research articles are automatically tracked.

Does Gates Foundation ingest CRediT as structured metadata?

For Gates Open Research articles, CRediT is captured as structured submission metadata and rendered on the article. For Gates-funded articles published in third-party journals, CRediT travels via the publication layer (JATS metadata, repository deposit under the immediate-CC BY mandate). The foundation does not separately ingest CRediT roles as grant-reporting metadata.

Common pitfalls

Things to avoid

Publishing in a hybrid OA journal without simultaneous CC BY deposit in PMC or Europe PMC - this fails Gates open-access compliance, regardless of CRediT.
Omitting the standard Gates funding-acknowledgement wording that names the investment reference.
Treating local-investigator contributions in low- and middle-income country settings as junior or technical rather than substantive intellectual contribution; CRediT is a useful counter to that tendency.
Submitting to Gates Open Research without a complete CRediT statement; the platform enforces this at submission.
Treating Gates open-data requirements as optional; underlying data must be openly available where ethically permissible.

Worked example

Sample CRediT statement for a Gates Foundation proposal

Illustrative wording (names invented) - adapt to your team and confirm the Gates Foundation-specific funding-acknowledgement format current at time of submission.

Conceptualization: A. Mwangi (country lead, [LMIC institution]), E. Carter. Methodology: A. Mwangi, E. Carter, B. Otieno. Investigation: A. Mwangi, B. Otieno, P. Achieng, L. Sanchez. Formal analysis: E. Carter, P. Achieng. Data curation: P. Achieng. Writing - original draft: A. Mwangi, E. Carter. Writing - review & editing: all authors. Funding acquisition: E. Carter. Supervision: A. Mwangi, E. Carter. Project administration: B. Otieno. This work was supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation under investment INV-XXXXXX. Under the grant conditions a CC BY 4.0 licence has been assigned to the Author Accepted Manuscript version arising from this submission.

Frequently asked

Gates Foundation + CRediT - common questions

Is CRediT required on Gates Open Research?: Yes - Gates Open Research requires a complete CRediT statement at submission as a structured field, similarly to Wellcome Open Research and Open Research Europe.
Does Gates require CRediT on articles published in third-party journals?: Strongly recommended. The Gates open-access policy explicitly references contributorship; in practice, most receiving journals require CRediT, so the publication-layer expectation is consistently met.
How does Gates handle hybrid OA?: Permitted only if the article is immediately CC BY. Hybrid OA in subscription journals without CC BY at time of publication fails Gates open-access compliance.
How should local-investigator contributions in LMIC settings appear in CRediT?: Using the same role taxonomy as any other contributor. Where local investigators lead protocol adaptation, in-country implementation, or community engagement, those contributions typically map to Conceptualization, Methodology, Investigation, or Data curation; relegating substantive LMIC contribution to Acknowledgements is a known equity issue that CRediT directly counters.
Does Gates Open Research integrate with ORCID?: Yes - Gates Open Research uses ORCID for author identification, and CRediT roles attach to the ORCID-identified author on each article.

Related guidance