Scientific author names: errors, corrections, and identity profiles

Abstract

Authorship problems are deep-rooted in the field of science communication. Some of these relate to lack of specific journal instructions. For decades, experts in journal editing and publishing have been exploring the authorship criteria and contributions deserving either co-authorship or acknowledgment. The issue of inconsistencies of listing and abbreviating author names has come to the fore lately. There are reports on the difficulties of figuring out Chinese surnames and given names of South Indians in scholarly articles. However, it seems that problems with correct listing and abbreviating author names are global. This article presents an example of swapping second (father’s) name with surname in a ‘predatory’ journal, where numerous instances of incorrectly identifying and crediting authors passed unnoticed for the journal editors, and no correction has been published. Possible solutions are discussed in relation to identifying author profiles and adjusting editorial policies to the emerging problems. Correcting mistakes with author names post-publication and integrating with the Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID) platform are among them.

Statement on Publication Ethics for Editors and Publishers

“…The journal instructions should include points on applicable criteria of authorship, preferred listing and abbreviating author names and presenting author profiles. The global initiative of the Open Research and Contributor ID (ORCID), which is integrated with bibliographic databases, digital archives and numerous scholarly platforms, is the best option for linking author names with their previously published works and academic achievements ( 2 3 ). The ORCID IDs can help display credentials of peer reviewers and editorial board members alike.…”

Enhancing the Visibility and Impact of Scholarly Research: an exploratory study on knowledge production settings

“…The most important (or common) is waste of time on "unnecessary duplicated" activities and processes, as for example multiple data entries with different names or surnames, which can be easily solved by using persistent identifiers for authors, organizations and institutions to facilitate data processing automation. Moreover, it improves search accuracy and also supports the unambiguous connections between researchers and their research and their affiliations (GASPARYAN et al, 2016). On the other hand, and somehow paradoxically, research centers and other knowledge producers institutions should spend more efforts in assessing their outcomes and procedures after the publication process.…”

Scholarship in Emergency Medicine: A Primer for Junior Academics Part I: Writing and Publishing

“…While researchers and readers are often able to easily distinguish the work of authors with uncommon surnames from others, readers can struggle to differentiate the work of authors from others sharing a similar surname and first initial. 31 One technique to differentiate yourself is to add your middle initial to the author listing, decreasing the likelihood of ambiguity in article identification. 14 An additional and more effective way is to apply for an Open Researcher and Contributor Identification (ORCID) account ( https://orcid.org/ ).…”