Participation records
Participation records name the people and organisations involved in a programme or a work: contributors, participants, partners and reviewers. They carry recognition, but also obligations, because naming someone discloses something about them. This page sets out how consent is recorded and honoured, how contributions are credited with standard roles and identifiers, how programme boundaries are stated, and what happens when consent is withdrawn or attribution is disputed.
- 01In briefDefinition and scope
- 02The question4 mechanisms
- 03Key terms3
- 04FieldH3 field plate
- 05Indicators7
- 06PipelineRun graph
- 07Sources6
- 08Decision holders4
- 09Methods3
GCRI · Established · service level R0
The short answer.
Participation records name the people and organisations involved in a programme or work: contributors, participants, partners and reviewers. Naming someone discloses something about them, so a record carries consent and its scope, a standard description of the contribution, a stated programme boundary and a route for withdrawal or dispute.
People and hazards in World.
For participation records, in GCRI's spatial-intelligence reading, the map opens on population density, night lights and true-colour imagery with true colour from NASA GIBS, framed on World; every other NASA layer, live feed and forecast waits in the layer list.
The interactive map needs JavaScript; the layer list and sources are below.
Layers 3
People and hazards, for this page
Keyboard, with the map focused
Hold Ctrl or ⌘ and scroll to zoom
Latest available
NASA GIBS / EOSDIS · ASTER GDEM (METI, NASA) · Blue Marble (NASA) · © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL) · Natural Earth
Loading the latest NASA imagery.
Drag to move. Ctrl or ⌘ and scroll, pinch or the buttons to zoom; hover for the values under the pointer; reset returns to the region.
For participation records, in GCRI's spatial-intelligence reading, the map opens on population density, night lights and true-colour imagery with true colour from NASA GIBS, framed on World; every other NASA layer, live feed and forecast waits in the layer list.Satellite and model products as NASA publishes them, each with its own date; indicators, not assessments of any place; claim ceiling INTEGRATED.
Data: NASA GIBS · ASTER GDEM · Blue Marble · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Natural Earth · GDACS · Copernicus Sentinel-2 L2A · NASA HLS S30Sources and licences
- We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA's Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS). Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
- We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA's Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS). Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
- Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN), Columbia University. 2018. Gridded Population of the World, Version 4 (GPWv4): Population Density, Revision 11. NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC). Licensed under CC BY 4.0. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). CC BY 4.0
- VIIRS Black Marble night-time lights, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center; distributed by the NASA Level-1 and Atmosphere Archive and Distribution System (LAADS DAAC); imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
- VIIRS near-real-time products (flood, land surface temperature, snow cover, corrected reflectance), NASA LANCE; imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
- MODIS land products (vegetation indices, gross primary production, land cover), NASA LP DAAC and LANCE; imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
- ASTER GDEM is a product of METI and NASA (ASTER Global Digital Elevation Model V003, NASA LP DAAC); imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
- Made with Natural Earth. Free vector and raster map data @ naturalearthdata.com. Public domain
- © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), via NASA GIBS (coastlines, boundaries, roads and place names). Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). ODbL
- Blue Marble, NASA Earth Observatory; imagery via NASA GIBS. Colours redrawn from the published colour map; values averaged into H3 cells where shown (modified). NASA open data
- Context on the globe and flat map: coastlines, boundaries, roads and place names from NASA GIBS reference layers (OpenStreetMap data, ODbL, © OpenStreetMap contributors); Blue Marble imagery as an optional base; 3D terrain and the elevation read-out from the ASTER GDEM elevation colour index (5 m to 200 m classes, exaggerated for legibility). Boundaries are drawn as published and imply no position on any territory.
- Globe: MapLibre GL JS 6.9.1, BSD-3-Clause, © MapLibre contributors.
- Live: GDACS (EC JRC / UN OCHA) Events are indicative, not official warnings.
- Observed (EO): Copernicus Sentinel-2 L2A (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2026), Microsoft Planetary Computer
- Observed (EO): NASA HLS S30 (contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2026). We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA's Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS).
- Optional layers (35 sources in the layer list: live, forecast, observed and context) print their provider credit on the map and here when switched on; forecasts are model output and derived indices are estimates.
Layers and dates
- Population density, 2020: Population: CIESIN, Columbia University, Gridded Population of the World v4.11 (2018), NASA SEDAC, CC BY 4.0 · static
- Night-time lights, daily: VIIRS Black Marble (VNP46A2), NASA LAADS DAAC · 12 Oct 2026
- True colour: VIIRS NOAA-20 corrected reflectance, NASA LANCE · 13 Oct 2026
- Land cover type (IGBP), yearly: MODIS Terra and Aqua land cover (MCD12Q1), NASA LP DAAC · 2024
- Flood water, 3-day composite: VIIRS Global Flood Product, NASA LANCE · 14 Oct 2026
- Enhanced vegetation index, rolling 8 days: MODIS Terra EVI, NASA LANCE · 13 Oct 2026
Participation records: how the risk develops.
Consent, recognition and programme boundaries. The dossier below sets out how the risk develops, what is measured, where the data come from, how it is modelled and who decides.
Consent scope creep
Consent is given for one purpose, such as listing in a programme, and the record is later reused for another, such as publicity, analytics or a partner directory. Without the scope recorded beside the name, reuse quietly exceeds what the person agreed to.
Identity collision
Two contributors with similar names are merged, or one person appears as several. Credit goes to the wrong person, a withdrawal request misses some records, and a disclosure meant for one person reaches another.
Boundary blur
A partner named in one project is listed as a member of the whole programme, or an advisor appears as an endorser. Readers infer affiliation, endorsement or responsibility that no one agreed to.
Withdrawal does not propagate
A person withdraws consent and the primary record is updated, but exports, caches, partner copies and search indexes still carry the name. The harm the withdrawal was meant to prevent continues downstream.
Terms used on this page.
Each term as this page uses it. Where a standard-setting body defines the term, the wording follows that body.
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Consent scope | The uses and audiences a person agreed to when consenting to be named or to share data. |
| CRediT | The Contributor Roles Taxonomy, ANSI/NISO Z39.104, with fourteen roles describing contributions to research outputs. |
| Programme boundary | A statement of what participation in a programme does and does not imply, such as no endorsement. |
What is measured, and how well.
Each indicator carries its unit, its cadence, the kind of source behind it and the evidence label a value would carry. No values are shown: a programme supplies them under its own authority.
| Indicator | Unit | Cadence | Source type | Label |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Participation records with a current consent status | share of records naming a person | monthly | Consent register | DECLARED |
| Records with consent scope stated | share of records naming a person | monthly | Schema validation | OBSERVED |
| Contributors with a persistent identifier | share of contributors | monthly | Identifier linkage | OBSERVED |
| Contributions described with CRediT roles | share of contributions | per output | Contributor metadata | DECLARED |
| Records with a stated programme boundary | share of participation records | quarterly | Schema validation | OBSERVED |
| Withdrawal requests completed within the policy period | share of requests | quarterly | Case records | OBSERVED |
| Attribution disputes raised | count | quarterly | Integrity office records | REPORTED |
From sources to decisions.
The topic as a computational graph: named sources feed the methods, an evidence review gates the outputs, and the decisions stay with the authorities that hold them.
Fig. 02Nodes carry their type, two metric rows and a state; connectors show what feeds what; dashed frames name the owners; the timeline is the cadence. Design of the pipeline, not a record of a run.
Where the evidence comes from.
Named public datasets and institutional records, each with its licence class. Sources by agreement are used only under their terms and never republished.
| Source | What it gives | Licence class |
|---|---|---|
| CRediT, Contributor Roles Taxonomy (ANSI/NISO Z39.104) | Standard roles describing each contributor's part in a research output | Open standard, free to use |
| ORCID registry | Persistent identifiers and consent-based connections between researchers and their records | CC0 for the public data file |
| ROR (Research Organization Registry) | Identifiers for partner organisations and their relationships | CC0 |
| W3C Data Privacy Vocabulary (DPV) | Terms for purposes, legal bases, consent states and processing operations | W3C community licence, free to use |
| GA4GH Data Use Ontology | Machine-readable terms for consent-based conditions on data use | Open ontology, attribution |
| ICMJE recommendations | Criteria for authorship and for acknowledging non-author contributors | Free to read |
Who decides, and what the evidence serves.
Nexus Registry prepares evidence. The decisions below are taken by the authorities named, under their own rules, and never by the platform.
| Who decides | The question | Evidence this page serves |
|---|---|---|
| Research ethics boards | Whether consent covers the proposed listing, reuse or disclosure of participants | Recorded consent scope, its date and the uses each record supports |
| Data protection officers | Whether a lawful basis exists for processing and publishing personal data in a record | Purpose, legal basis, retention and withdrawal history for each record |
| Journal editors and research integrity offices | How to resolve an authorship or attribution dispute | Contributor roles, identifiers and the history of changes to the contributor list |
| Programme stewards | Who may be listed as a partner, member or contributor, and in what capacity | Signed participation terms and the stated boundary of each role |
Outputs this topic produces
- Participation views showing each named party's role, identifier and programme boundary
- Consent status and scope recorded beside every personal name
- A withdrawal route listing the records and known copies it reaches
- Contributor role records using CRediT terms where they apply
What experts ask about participation records.
- What consent is needed before a person or institution is named, and how is it withdrawn?
- How should roles be described so that credit is accurate and comparable?
- How can recognition be given without creating a credential or an employment record?
- How much personal data does a participation record need?
- How are institutional names protected from implied endorsement?
Where participation records go wrong.
Contribution records fail in predictable ways. Gift and honorary authorship overstate some contributions, while data collectors, community researchers and technical staff are often left out. Lists of participating institutions are read as partnerships or endorsements. Records collected for one purpose are reused for another without consent. Research communities have responded with contributor-role taxonomies that describe what each person actually did, and with persistent identifiers that people control themselves.
Data protection law and research ethics add a further rule: collect only what the purpose requires. Methods from digital identity and public digital systems show how a person can be identified reliably while disclosing as little as possible.
How the Registry approaches it.
- 01
Consent first
A person or institution is named only as they agreed, for the purpose they agreed, and consent can be withdrawn.
- 02
Described roles
Roles follow a published vocabulary of contribution types, never titles that imply authority.
- 03
Minimal data
Records hold the least personal data needed, and protected details stay out of public views.
- 04
Limits
A participation record is not a licence, a qualification, an appointment or an employment record. Self-reported roles can be inaccurate, and recognition norms differ between disciplines and cultures.
How it is studied, and what the methods cannot say.
- Digital identity and public digital systemsIssuer authentication and authority · Contributor disambiguation by the personApplied here
- Data engineering, interoperability and stewardshipSchema-validated ingestion · Persistent identifier reconciliation · Lineage capture in pipelinesApplied here
- Cybersecurity and cryptographyTamper-evident record history · Signed exports and releases · Threat modelling of edit pathsApplied here
Questions and answers.
Can I be listed without my consent?
What happens when I withdraw consent?
Why use CRediT roles rather than a plain contributor list?
Does being listed as a partner mean endorsement?
Does a participation record make me a member or an employee?
Can I ask to be removed?
Is an institution named in a record a partner?
Around Nexus Registry.
Bring your expertise to this field.
The current service level is R0: information and enquiries. An enquiry receives a reference and names the next step; applications, payments, compute allocations and registrations open only when their team, terms and review capacity exist.