Responsible Conduct of Research

Determination and Responsibilities of Authorship

Authorship should be confined to those persons who have made significant contributions to the conceptualization, design, execution, interpretation, or writing of the work reported. All authors should be able to explain and defend the work. They must take responsibility as well as credit for the work. Some journals require the signatures of all authors on a form stating that all have seen and agree with the material being submitted. Individuals who have made lesser contributions such as providing advice, analysis, subject material, or who may have supported the research in other ways, should be acknowledged. In some fields, written permission may be required for acknowledgments. In factual or scientific reports, authors should take care to cite relevant data including that which does not support the hypothesis being presented. It is an author's responsibility to be familiar with and to accurately cite other publications relevant to his or her work.

Multiple authorship raises issues such as criteria for inclusion as an author, ability of each author to evaluate all aspects of a study, and sequence of listing of authors. Authors should discuss these issues openly before initiating a multi-author project and repeatedly during the course of such work. The submitting or primary author has responsibility for coordinating the completion and submission of the work, and for assuring that the contributions of all collaborators are appropriately recognized. All authors should approve the final version of a manuscript and should take public responsibility for the work.