Although the student’s work will constitute a large part of his dissertation, his individual contribution to the overall study is not considered significant enough to merit his being listed as an author on the resulting publications. The faculty advisor and the student verbally agreeA guiding practice for responsible authorship is for all individuals who are involved in the work to discuss openly and frankly authorship criteria and decisions, and agree upon them in writing in advance. The faculty advisor and graduate student verbally agreed that the student’s role in the study did not merit authorship. However, the faculty advisor should have amended the written agreement that existed among other team members stating the student’s role in the project, and that it was agreed that the stated role did not merit authorship (probably merited mention in the acknowledgements section).
at the outset what the student’s role in the study will be; since there is no intention to include him as a co-author on the publications, the advisor does not amend
The faculty advisor should have amended the existing written agreement to state the student’s role in the project, and that it was agreed that the stated role did not merit authorship (probably merited mention in the acknowledgements section).
the written authorship agreement that the original research team prepared before the student joined the project.
- The faculty advisor is listed as first author
Authorship decisions should be based on significant contributions to the work performed in at least one of the following areas: theoretical development, concept, or design, execution, modeling or simulation of processes, analysis and interpretation of data, or preparation and revision of manuscript. As the faculty advisor was not actively involved in the study (he was on sabbatical for the majority of the study), listing him as first author appears to be a case of honorary authorship. Honorary authorship is strongly discouraged as it misrepresents the work of both the “honored” individual as well as co-authors.
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- The senior researcher is listed as second author
The order in which authors are listed should reflect the individuals’ relative contributions to the work. Though the senior researcher’s originally agreed-upon contributions to the study may have qualified her as second author, she transferred many of those responsibilities to other team members. Therefore, her actual contributions may no longer merit her being listed as second author. Though she is the senior researcher in the laboratory in the faculty advisor’s absence, authorship decisions should be based on individuals’ contributions to the work performed, not on their status or rank
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- The senior researcher states that her own contributions to the study include data collection and analysis, and manuscript preparation
This statement reflects the senior researcher’s originally agreed-upon contributions to the study and not her actual contributions. At her request, the graduate student assumed the senior researcher’s data collection and analysis responsibilities, and a postdoctoral fellow and the graduate student assumed the senior researcher’s manuscript preparation assignment. In the letter to the journal, the senior researcher should have stated her actual role in the study, not what she originally agreed to do.
- The graduate student is listed in the acknowledgements section for his technical assistance.
The acknowledgements section of a manuscript provides an opportunity to recognize intellectual, technical, or other contributions that do not merit authorship. Listing the graduate student in the acknowledgements section is based on the student’s originally agreed upon contributions to the study. However, though not reflected in the written agreement, the graduate student actually conducted data collection and analysis, and played a significant role in the manuscript preparation and revision process. In all likelihood, these contributions should merit listing the graduate student as an author
- The postdoctoral fellow is listed as contributing to data collection, but not credited with preparing the manuscript
The postdoctoral student should be recognized for his contribution of manuscript preparation, whether through listing as an author (if his contribution to the work was deemed significant by the team), or through mention in the acknowledgements section (if this contribution was not considered significant by the team).
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