Author contribution statements and gender dynamics in Library and Information Science scholarship

As scholarly currency, contributorship in scientific research is important for a researcher’s academic career. Therefore, library and information science (LIS) researchers should receive credit for research contributions. This study analyzes Contributor Roles Taxonomy (CRediT) contribution statements in LIS scholarship to determine the frequency of CRediT roles and explore the role of gender in LIS contributorship. Research articles were collected from LIS journals published in 2023 and 2024 and contribution statements were extracted. Analysis of CRediT statements reveal a collaborative writing culture with nearly all contributors involved in writing activities. There is a gap in women-men authorship, with women contributing to 45.15% of scholarship and 54.85% men. There are disparities in leadership and technical roles: gender gaps exist between supervision, project administration, data curation, and funding acquisition, with men more likely to take on funding and supervision roles, and women more involved in administrative and curation roles. While women LIS researchers are closer to achieving parity in terms of co-author and contributorship, there are disparities in the division of labor within LIS research culture.