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v2026.1714 entries · CC-BY 4.0

Life sciences

CRediT, authorship, and contribution standards for CROs

Contract Research Organisations sit between sponsors and investigators on most clinical trials — running operations, biostatistics, medical writing, data management, and regulatory submissions. Increasingly the CRO contribution to peer-reviewed publications must be attributed properly under CRediT and ICMJE; medical-writer disclosure (via EMWA / ISMPP / GPP3) is a regulatory expectation.

~$80B global CRO market (2024)

What this sector cares about

Key research-administration concerns

  • Attributing CRO biostatistics, data management, medical writing in CRediT statements
  • GPP3-compliant good publication practice for industry-sponsored publications
  • Sponsor + CRO + investigator three-way contribution patterns
  • Ghost-writing prevention (EMWA / ICMJE)
  • Trial-registration + data-sharing compliance across portfolios
  • CDISC-conformant data deposit for industry trial outputs

Standards in play

Relevant standards beyond CASRAI

  • CRediT
  • ICMJE
  • GPP3 (Good Publication Practice)
  • EMWA / ISMPP medical-writer policies
  • ICH GCP
  • CDISC SDTM/ADaM

Typical actors

Who's involved

  • CRO biostatistician
  • CRO medical writer
  • CRO clinical data manager
  • Sponsor publication lead
  • Investigator (lead author)

Adopted by research universities worldwide

University of Cambridge logoColumbia University logoUniversity of Edinburgh logoHarvard University logoMassachusetts Institute of Technology logoUniversity of Oxford logoPrinceton University logoStanford School of Medicine logoUniversity College London logoUniversity of Cambridge logoColumbia University logoUniversity of Edinburgh logoHarvard University logoMassachusetts Institute of Technology logoUniversity of Oxford logoPrinceton University logoStanford School of Medicine logoUniversity College London logo
  • University of Cambridge logo
  • Columbia University logo
  • University of Edinburgh logo
  • Harvard University logo
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology logo
  • University of Oxford logo
  • Princeton University logo
  • Stanford School of Medicine logo
  • University College London logo

View CASRAI adoption →