This document discusses authorship in scientific research publications. Authorship is important for several reasons, including scientists' responsibility to publish findings, peer review ensuring published work is valid, and authorship being necessary for career advancement. As research has become more collaborative, authorship criteria are needed to determine who deserves credit. To be an author, one should make a significant intellectual contribution and be prepared to defend the work. The document outlines appropriate and unethical authorship practices, and emphasizes the importance of accountability in authorship to avoid misconduct.

1. Authorship
David Knauft
UGA Graduate School &
Horticulture Department

2. For background on authorship
and peer review
I particularly like this site
from Columbia University:
 http://ccnmtl.columbia.edu/project
s/rcr/rcr_authorship/foundation/ind
ex.html

3. Authorship is key to research
for several reasons:
 Scientists have responsibility to
publish their findings – unethical
NOT to publish.
 Publication in scientific journals is
seen, because of peer review
process, to be place where “truth”
exists.
 Publication is the “currency” of
science for scientists. Recognition,
tenure, promotion, grants, etc. all
come from authorship.

4. What’s the issue?
 Early research publications had one or
two authors. However, as research has
become more collaborative, the number
of authors has increased. Problems
arise when an undeserving person is
an author, or when a deserving person
is omitted.
 Criteria vary, but in general an
author should:
◦ Have made a significant intellectual
contribution to the paper
◦ Be prepared to defend and explain the
paper
◦ Have read and reviewed the paper

5. People can contribute to
research in a number of ways
 Define problem
 Propose hypotheses
 Summarize background literature
 Design experiment
 Develop methodology
 Collect and record data
 Provide data
 Manage data
 Analyze data
 Interpret results
 Assist in technical aspects of research
 Assist in logistical aspects of research
 Apply for grant/ obtain funding
 Draft and edit manuscript

6. Some unethical issues:
Gift authorship
Honorary authorship
Prestige authorship
Ghost authorship
Plagiarism (including self-
plagiarism)
Citation amnesia

7. The role of an author should
include:
 Good writing
 Accuracy
 Context and citations
 Publish negative results
 Disclose possible conflicts of interest
 Be aware of duplicate publication
 Indicate sponsorship
 Be aware of copyright issues
 Be aware of fragmentary publication (when
is there enough data to publish?)
 Be aware of intellectual property issues

8. Bottom line is accountability
for the paper and the research
within it.
 Authorship without accountability can lead
to irresponsible practices
 If there is a problem with a paper, it is
important to hold people accountable.
When there has been misconduct, often an
author of paper didn’t know enough about
the research and said it was someone
else’s fault
 Authorship with accountability leads to
justice and fairness. Unfair to deny
someone authorship to someone who is
accountable, and also unfair to give
authorship to someone who isn’t
accountable.

9. Order of authors
 One other issue that arises is
authorship order. Varies from discipline
to discipline. All articles should have an
accountable author, one that bears the
largest amount of accountability
(usually first or last). Also is a
corresponding author that had major
role in writing.
 One of the best ways to resolve issues
of authorship and issues of order is to
discuss up-front and early in the
research.