Intellectual contributions meriting authorship: Survey results from the top cited authors across all science categories

Abstract

Authorship is the currency of an academic career for which the number of papers researchers publish demonstrates creativity, productivity, and impact. To discourage coercive authorship practices and inflated publication records, journals require authors to affirm and detail their intellectual contributions but this strategy has been unsuccessful as authorship lists continue to grow. Here, we surveyed close to 6000 of the top cited authors in all science categories with a list of 25 research activities that we adapted from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) authorship guidelines. Responses varied widely from individuals in the same discipline, same level of experience, and same geographic region. Most researchers agreed with the NIH criteria and grant authorship to individuals who draft the manuscript, analyze and interpret data, and propose ideas. However, thousands of the researchers also value supervision and contributing comments to the manuscript, whereas the NIH recommends discounting these activities when attributing authorship. People value the minutiae of research beyond writing and data reduction: researchers in the humanities value it less than those in pure and applied sciences; individuals from Far East Asia and Middle East and Northern Africa value these activities more than anglophones and northern Europeans. While developing national and international collaborations, researchers must recognize differences in peoples values while assigning authorship.

Authorship decisions in ecology, evolution, organismal biology and natural resource management: who, why, and how

“…casrai.org/credit.html; see also Brand et al 2015) in an attempt at an official or approved approach to generate contributor statements in those journals that require them (see below). Another approach to clarify the diverse ways in which individuals may contribute to a paper and perhaps help to determine inclusion as an author included a list of 25 research activities used by the National Institutes of Health (Patience et al, 2019). In many scientific fields, funding may be primarily obtained via extensive grant proposals (NSF, USDA, NIH) that require elucidation of the conceptual background and structure of the research, experimental design, and statistical analyses of the proposed research.…”

A Guide for Many Authors: Writing Manuscripts in Large Collaborations

“…Lead authors who are careful in how they approach crediting can ensure that all coauthors feel they have been fairly and appropriately credited on large collaborative projects. (Patience, Galli, Patience, & Boffito, 2019), and authors may be differently benefited by the chosen method of crediting contributions depending on their institutional or national contexts. Communicating how authorship will be awarded at the start of a project gives people the opportunity to avoid working on collaborations that they don't feel offer fair credit.…”

The art and science of scientific writing

“…Authorship recognizes creativity, collaboration, integrity and accountability. 17 Furthermore, authorships should be a practical exercise of honesty. Ghost authorship must be discouraged.…”