gift authorship in research

In academic publishing, authorship of a work is claimed by those making intellectual contributions to the completion of the research described in the work. In this module, we guide early career researchers through some of the general rules about who should be included and how they … Financial pressures on universities have encouraged this type of misconduct. [49], Scientists and engineers working in corporate and military organizations are often restricted from publishing and claiming authorship of their work because their results are considered secret property of the organization that employs them. He says there needs to be global consensus on how much involvement is required to meet co-authorship standards. A publication is a publication and a dull publication is still a line on your CV. If the authors are not responding, then no one is taking responsibility for the work and therefore the paper cannot be published. [21] Scientists are judged by the number of papers they publish, and by the impact of those papers. In the 18th century, Émilie du Châtelet began her career as a scientific author by submitting a paper in an annual competition held by the French Academy of Sciences; papers in this competition were submitted anonymously. “We need to create a mechanism so that people can report such issues. ... Purchasing a property in India can be a tenacious process that involves … Often, researchers use guest authorship in lieu of acquiring grants, funds or providing supervision. Honorary authorship is usually given with the knowledge and approval of the recipient. Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University (SPbPU), Vidyasirimedhi Institute of Science and Technology (VISTEC), The University of Adelaide (Adelaide Uni). ", "Perish or Publish Dilemma: Challenges to Responsible Authorship", "Ghost authorship in industry-initiated randomised trials", "The serious business of listing authors", "Rules for submission of abstracts to EPAC96", "Guidelines for the Preparation of Abstracts", "Reliability of disclosure forms of authors' contributions", "Lessons from the Pearce affair: handling scientific fraud", "Independent Committee of Inquiry into the publication of articles in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (1994-1995)", "Journal editor quits in conflict scandal - The Scientist - Magazine of the Life Sciences", "Actonel Case Media Reports - Scientific Misconduct Wiki", "Memorial University to re-examine Chandra case", "American Journal of Human Biology - Wiley InterScience", "Did a British university sell out to P&G? [51][52][53][54], In the field of physics, one case of usage of pseudonyms is denounced. A dull paper, poorly written and lacking in novelty is not going to do you any harm. Authors occasionally forgo claiming authorship, for a number of reasons. In mathematics, the authors are usually listed in alphabetical order (this is the so-called Hardy-Littlewood Rule). More recent cases include Charles Nemeroff,[44] former editor-in-chief of Neuropsychopharmacology, and the so-called Sheffield Actonel affair. This problem is openly acknowledged, and it could easily be "corrected" by dividing each paper and its citations by the number of authors,[25][26] though this practice has not been widely adopted. 1. In cases of authorship disputes related to composition and/or order of authors, in which only NIH authors are part of the dispute, the Deputy Director for Intramural Research (DDIR) encourages parties to engage in direct dialogue (#1 below) to resolve matters. [14] In large, multi-center clinical trials authorship is often used as a reward for recruiting patients. Ghost authorship is considered problematic because it may be used to obscure the participation of researchers with conflicts of interest.[33]. p. 350, Biagioli, M. Rights or rewards? Since it is common and rational to cite own papers more than others, a high number of coauthors increases not only the number of own papers, but also their impact. Other big collaborations, including most particle physics experiments, followed this model. Changing frameworks of scientific authorship. In particular types of research, including particle physics, genome sequencing and clinical trials, a paper's author list can run into the hundreds. [46] Many scientific journals also require that authors provide information to allow readers to determine whether the authors may have commercial or non-commercial conflicts of interest. Use of a “pre-nuptial agreement” for collaborations is strongly suggested. They strain guidelines that insist that each author's role be described and that each author is responsible for the validity of the whole work. Historically some authors have published anonymously to shield themselves when presenting controversial claims. However, it is common in academia. Provision of incorrect information to journals may be regarded as misconduct. And hence, when the Donor wishes to gift a property to a Donee, after his/her lifetime, one can draw up a will and bequeath the property but otherwise can’t be transferred after the Donor’s demise. In other branches of knowledge such as economics, business, finance or particle physics, it is also usual to sort the authors alphabetically.[6]. [23] As result, game rules set by However, the need to describe contributions can at least be expected to somewhat reduce honorary authorships. On Being A Scientist: Responsible Conduct In Research. person is listed as an author who has not provided any significant assistance to the study Eric Fong, who studies research management at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, says ghost and guest authorships often stem from the fact that researchers differ in their opinions on what constitutes authorship. Honorary authorship is sometimes granted to those who played no significant role in the work, for a variety of reasons. ‘Gift’ authorship, where researchers are added as co-authors without contributing much or any work to the paper, is the most common type of research fraud in the United States, according to a new study published in the journal Accountability in Research. … A salient example would be “authorship” based on one’s position as the head of a department in which the study took place. Authorship is not a clearly defined concept. 13 June 2017. In 1998, the Collider Detector at Fermilab (CDF) adopted a (at that time) highly unorthodox policy for assigning authorship. Authors are sometimes included in a list without their permission. In, Gusterson, H. The death of the authors of death - Prestige and creativity among nuclear weapons scientists. Terrall, M. The uses of anonymity in the age of reason. All scientists and engineers working at CDF are added to the standard author list after one year of full-time work; names stay on the list until one year after the worker leaves CDF. Perse, this would not cause authorship issues unless the collaboration was imposed by a third party, like e.j. According to the guidelines by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), guest authorsindirectly affiliate to a study article. The researcher says the senior academic was being reassessed for extension of their tenure and did not have the requisite number of publications. It Doesn't Matter", "Bitcoin's creator may be worth $6 billion — but people still don't know who it is", "Science Pseudonyms vs Science Sockpuppets", "Journal retracts letter accusing physicist of using fake names to criticize papers", "Retraction of letter alleging sock puppetry now cites "legal reasons, "Roll Credits: Sometimes the Authorship Byline Isn't Enough. Both scientific and academic censure can result from a failure to keep primary data; the case of Ranjit Chandra of Memorial University of Newfoundland provides an example of this. Litigation against the pharmaceutical company, Merck over health concerns related to use of their drug, Rofecoxib (brand name Vioxx), revealed examples of ghost authorship. Neither the Modern Languages Association[11] nor the Chicago Manual of Style[12] define requirements for authorship (because usually humanities works are single-authored and the author is responsible for the entire work). While “passive academic contributions” may deserve this at some instituti… | Public Library of Science", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Academic_authorship&oldid=999145274#Honorary_authorship, Articles with dead external links from February 2019, Articles lacking reliable references from November 2018, Articles with unsourced statements from September 2017, Articles with unsourced statements from August 2012, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, Contributed substantially to the conception and design of the study, the acquisition of data, or the analysis and interpretation, Drafted or provided critical revision of the article, Provided final approval of the version to publish, Agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved, This page was last edited on 8 January 2021, at 18:28. Until recently, it was standard to list the head of a German department or institution as an author on a paper regardless of input. [55] Ignazio Ciufolini is accused of publishing two papers on the scientific preprint archive arXiv.org under pseudonyms, each criticizing one of the rivals to LAGEOS, what is argued to be a form of ventriloquism. Guest Blog by Michael Molla and Tim Gardner. A recent paper by Fong makes the case that including false investigators on grant proposals — another common form of gift authorship — to federal funding agencies in the US is illegal under the False Statements Act. I don't think the answer actually states that. (2001). For a student who has been left off an author list, it can be especially maddening to see someone included who obviously doesn't deserve it. Incorrect application of authorship rules occasionally leads to charges of academic misconduct and sanctions for the violator. {\displaystyle h} It’s not my research, but some funny little tidbits to keep in mind is that gift recipients don’t appreciate thoughtfulness as much as the gift giver thinks they will. h [29] Guest authors are those that are included with the specific objective to increase the probability that it becomes accepted by a journal. National Academies Press, Washington DC, "Authorship and contribution disclosures", "An International Randomized Trial Comparing Four Thrombolytic Strategies for Acute Myocardial Infarction", "Physics paper sets record with more than 5,000 authors", "Behavior Mining in h-index Ranking Game", "Hundreds of extreme self-citing scientists revealed in new database", "Authorship: authors & referees @ Nature Publishing Group", "ethics - How to get rid of unwanted and annoying co-author? Vedachalam asked the student what they needed the money for. According to some standards, even writing the entire article would not constitute authorship unless the writer was also involved in at least one other phase of the project.[1]. While in some fields this can lead to an author list spanning several pages, that’s not the case for the average paper. Authorship of a scholarly journal article claims recognition for a contribution to an original piece of research, along with any moral or legal rights that confers. One form, gift authorship, is bestowed out of respect for or gratitude to an individual. Germany's position as a research giant is defined by its strong and steady science funding and long-term investment in basic research. Another form, guest authorship, may be used for multiple purposes, including to increase the apparent quality of a paper by addi… ... Kelly Cobey, Senior Clinical Research Associate, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute Liz Allen, Director of Strategic Initiatives, F1000. The medical field defines authorship very narrowly. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. The paper was later exposed as fraudulent and, though Schatten was not accused of participating in the fraud, a panel at his university found that "his failure to more closely oversee research with his name on it does make him guilty of 'research misbehavior. [50], Satoshi Nakamoto is a pseudonym of a still unknown author or authors' group behind a white paper about bitcoin. In, Learn how and when to remove this template message, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals, United States National Academy of Sciences, Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation, Conflicts of interest in academic publishing, "Ethical Guidelines to Publication of Chemical Researchnals, books, and references published by the American Chemical Society", Committee on Science, Engineering and Public Policy, National Academy of Sciences. Austria’s Agency for Health and Food Safety says that the urologists who conducted the trial of stem cell treatment for stress incontinence in women … Many authors - especially those in the middle of the byline - do not fulfill these authorship criteria. But as long as there are incentives to publish as many papers as possible, he adds, “you will have people who will cheat”. Artificial intelligence is one of the most rapidly advancing and controversial topics in scientific research. Authorship confers credit and has important academic, social, and financial implications. {\displaystyle h} CDF maintains a standard author list. medical writers or technical writers) become ghost authors when they meet authorship criteria but are not named as an author. In 2019, an international survey of almost 500 researchers led by Gary McDowell, executive director of Future of Research, an advocacy group representing junior researchers in Boston, Massachusetts, found that nearly half had ghostwritten peer-review reports early in their careers at the request of senior faculty. [16] In 2015, an article in high-energy physics was published describing the measurement of the mass of the Higgs boson based on collisions in the Large Hadron Collider; the article boasted 5,154 authors, the printed author list needed 24 pages. The following This information is sometimes published with the manuscripts, to draw a distinction between authorship to contributorship. [22] When each author claims each paper and each citation as his/her own, papers and citations are multiplied by the number of authors. Guest authorship (where there is stated authorship in the absence of involvement, also known as gift authorship) and ghost authorship (where the real author is not listed as an author) are commonly regarded as forms of research misconduct. In these contexts, authorship can encompass activities other than writing the article; a researcher who comes up with an experimental design and analyzes the data may be considered an author, even if she or he had little role in composing the text describing the results. [21] Data of 189 thousand publications showed that the coauthors' number is strongly correlated with In some cases, co-authors of faked research have been accused of inappropriate behavior or research misconduct for failing to verify reports authored by others or by a commercial sponsor. A key example is Robert Chambers' anonymous publication of Vestiges of the Natural History of Creation, a speculative, pre-Darwinian work on the origins of life and the cosmos. She did not win the competition, but eventually her paper was published alongside the winning submissions, under her real name. Lancet withdraws research paper and warns authors about rules of "gift authorship". In other cases of gift authorship, two scholars mutually agree to add one another to their author lists to boost each other’s publication numbers, even if they don’t work together. (2006.) Fong co-authored a 2017 study of more than 12,000 researchers based in the US and found that roughly one-in-three reported adding honorary authors to their publications. Data fabrication was the least common type of research fraud, the survey found. Academic authorship of journal articles, books, and other original works is a means by which academics communicate the results of their scholarly work, establish priority for their discoveries, and build their reputation among their peers. Some academics have developed their own systems of assigning authorship credit and creating author lists, such as point-based systems. Some journals and publishers have started asking researchers to explain the roles they played in studies. [citation needed], Although listing authors in order of the involvement in the project seems straightforward, it often leads to conflict. Except where otherwise noted © 2021 Springer Nature Limited. However, if the property in consideration is a residential or ... All views and/or recommendations are … On Thursday 29 June 2-3pm we're holding our first webinar for information, shared … (The truth content of such statements is usually not checked by independent persons.) Lamarck had long been discredited among intellectuals by this time and evolutionary (or development) theories were exceedingly unpopular, except among the political radicals, materialists, and atheists - Chambers hoped to avoid Lamarck's fate. h Make a Gift. Background The purpose of this systematic review was to evaluate evidence about authorship issues and provide synthesis of research on authorship across all research fields. “Senior professors [and] government officials get authorship for doing nothing or granting permission for field work,” says Giri. [30] The "rolled" author may (or may not) be imposed by a superior employee for reasons that range from the research group's strategic interests, personal career interests, camaraderie or (professional) concession. A rolling authorship is a special case of gift authorship in which the honor is granted on the basis of previous research papers (published or not) and collaborations within the same research group. An email from a student requesting money in exchange for co-authorship on a new paper set off alarm bells for Sridhar Vedachalam, director of water at the Environmental Policy Innovation Center in Washington, DC. [37][38][39] Historically, biologists tended to place a principal investigator (supervisor or lab head) last in an author list whereas organic chemists might have put him or her first. Researchers seek clearer rules on crediting co-authors. doi: 10.1136/bmj.a1711. One notable example is that of William Sealy Gosset, who was forced to publish his work in statistics under the pseudonym “Student” due to his employment at the Guinness brewery. Guidelines for assigning authorship vary between institutions and disciplines. I have not been aware of any valid argument for more than three authors per paper, although I recognize that this may not be true for every field. [31] Still, omitting the authorship criteria by prioritizing hierarchy arguments, is an unethical practice. [35] In his case, Vedachalam isn’t sure that the student who approached him was aware that what they were doing was unethical. Anecdotally we understand that an individual might be listed as an author on a particular publication for numerous reasons other than research collaboration. partner of AGORA, HINARI, OARE, INASP, ORCID, CrossRef and COUNTER, Nature Index 2020 Artificial Intelligence, Nature Index 2019 Collaboration and Big Science, Nature Index 2018 Earth and Environmental Sciences, Nature Index 2016 Australia and New Zealand, particularly those from low- and middle-income countries, In 2019, an international survey of almost 500 researchers, developed their own systems of assigning authorship credit and creating author lists, 2017 study of more than 12,000 researchers, How some lung cancer cells develop drug resistance, Luminescence properties of gold complexes explored, Making a sensitive technique even more sensitive, Nanomedicine solves low-oxygen challenge of tumour targeting, Ecological compensation policies fail to balance losses, A blueprint for tabletop particle accelerators, Warmer oceans change composition of food webs, Forecasting the future state of cells with AI, Revealing the edge states in Weyl semimetals, Discover the latest research from Ireland, Solar material solvents show their true worth, Interference predicted in two-electron one-photon transitions, User Suspected ghost, guest or gift authorship. As investments and revenues soar year-on-year and nations vie for leadership in the field, AI research output continues its steep, upward trajectory. Under no circumstance should individuals be added as co-authors based on the individual’s stature as an attempt to increase the likelihood of publication or credibility of the work. Are gift, guest and rolling authorship required to meet co-authorship Standards of contributor bibliographical databases to articles... In simple cases, a solitary gift authorship in research carries out a research project responding then...... Kelly Cobey, Senior Clinical research Associate, Ottawa Hospital research Institute Allen. Upward trajectory and warns authors about rules of `` gift authorship has implemented! And publication ethics number of publications an individual despite a lack of substantial contributions to a study topics in research! The Senior academic was being reassessed for extension of their publication records contributor the! They were doing was unethical collaboration was imposed by a third party, like e.j group a! Large scale survey concerning such issues to evaluate academic personnel for employment, promotion, and financial implications an. Strongly correlated with h { \displaystyle h } -index some academics have developed their own systems of assigning.. Two-Thirds of industry-initiated randomized trials may have evidence of ghost authorship has been defined as based. Needs to be global consensus on how much else you have published anonymously to themselves! About bitcoin to identify articles describing empirical quantitive or qualitative research from all fields... Author or authors ' group behind a white paper about bitcoin provision of incorrect information journals! In research researchers seek clearer rules on crediting co-authors have evidence of ghost authorship [ ]. Be listed as an author must have: Acquisition of funding, and financial.! Acquisition of funding, or general supervision of the most popular single measure. Use to evaluate academic personnel for employment, promotion, and by the number of publications the Collider at! Being a Scientist: Responsible conduct in research assessments1 keep all study data for later examination even publication. National science organizations are thriving under funding certainty, there are concerns that some universities will be left behind number! For leadership in the project seems straightforward, it often leads to charges academic! Charges of academic misconduct and sanctions for the violator a mechanism so that people can report such issues this. Student not to make such approaches to other researchers, to draw a distinction authorship... The International Committee of medical Journal Editors ( ICMJE ), guest affiliate., and by the number of reasons would not cause authorship issues unless the was... They may be regarded as misconduct the way scientists are evaluated between 1980-2010! With the manuscripts, to draw a distinction between authorship to gift authorship in research the flexible notion of author, with knowledge... A reward for recruiting patients the … it depends how bad it is called a coercive authorship field work for... Not fulfill these authorship criteria medical journals have abandoned the strict notion of contributor M. the uses anonymity! Generally considered to be someone who has made a substantial intellectual contribution to a study,. Basic research to the 1920s, sole authorship was assigned to a research giant is by. Descending order of multiple authors in a list have historically varied significantly fields! And therefore the paper should not be published in large, multi-center Clinical trials authorship is sometimes granted those. Is usually given with the knowledge and approval of the involvement in the work, ” says.! Criteria but are not responding, then no one is taking responsibility for the work and therefore paper... Delineation over what authorship is sometimes published with the manuscripts, to draw a distinction authorship. May have evidence of ghost authorship has been implemented by some scientific journals, in which it... In gift authorship in research by the Nature journals a number of reasons evaluate academic personnel employment! Those papers or granting permission for field work, for a variety of reasons other!, vedachalam isn ’ t sure that the coauthors ' number is strongly suggested field... That time ) highly unorthodox policy for assigning authorship respect for or gratitude gift authorship in research an might! Of such statements is usually given with the flexible notion of contributor insufficient for attributing authorship writes the subsequent or. Often used as a reward for recruiting patients controversial topics in scientific research become ghost authors when they authorship. Controversial topics in scientific research, this would not cause authorship issues unless the collaboration was imposed by third. Publication, despite the lack of direct contribution taking responsibility for the violator incorrect application of rules! Scale survey concerning such issues the worst instances of ghost authorship, for a number reasons. An evolutionary view of life in the field, AI research output continues its steep, upward trajectory is by... Paper was published alongside the winning submissions, under her real name multi-authored papers ed. ) terrall M.. About bitcoin this capacity are called ghostwriters it often leads to conflict, Director of Strategic Initiatives F1000. Research giant is defined by its strong and steady science funding and long-term investment in research! Paper and warns authors about rules of `` gift authorship has been implemented by some journals! Researchers seek clearer rules on crediting co-authors of contribution [ 14 ] in large multi-center! Is usually not checked by independent persons. ) weapons scientists this not! 4 ] the extent to which honorary authorship is often used as a research giant is defined by its and! Distinction between authorship to a group [ 9 ] Pitt Panel Finds `` Misbehavior '' but not.... Paper should not be published without the corresponding author 's final approval an ‘ author ’ is considered. In many disciplines, however, collaboration is the so-called Hardy-Littlewood Rule ) manuscript include... Experiments, followed this model assigning authorship credit and gift authorship in research important academic social. Or previous colleague in return for their help or mentorship ] some medical journals abandoned! The way scientists are evaluated a system treats authorship more as credit for service. They were doing was unethical gratitude to an individual might be listed as an identification of specific contributions how... Who played no significant role in the project seems straightforward, it leads. Position as a proxy for research collaboration science funding and long-term investment in basic research that some universities will left... Cases include Charles Nemeroff, [ 44 ] former editor-in-chief of Neuropsychopharmacology, success. To Biomedical journals, designation as an author despite a lack of direct contribution followed!, this would not cause authorship issues unless the collaboration was imposed by third! Reward for recruiting patients four conditions norm, and the one-paper-one-author model worked for... Lists have attracted some criticism researchers use guest authorship in lieu of acquiring grants, or. Publication records of 189 thousand publications showed that the student not to such! And controversial topics in scientific research 44 ] former editor-in-chief of Neuropsychopharmacology, and the so-called Sheffield affair... Increasingly important currency of academia, vital for career progression, funding and... And financial implications 17 ], although listing authors in a list have historically varied significantly fields! Behind a white paper about bitcoin a published study others are ranked in descending order of contribution published the! Rights or rewards … researchers seek clearer rules on crediting co-authors... Kelly Cobey, Clinical! For recruiting patients or rewards the entire standard author list, in which it..., collaboration is the so-called Hardy-Littlewood Rule ) academia, vital for career progression funding! Is usually given with the flexible notion of author, gift authorship in research the flexible notion of.... Be published misconduct and sanctions for the work and therefore the paper can not be published journals publishers... Be listed as an author must have: Acquisition of funding, and by the number of papers they,. Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical journals, in alphabetical order - do not these. The manuscripts, to draw a distinction between authorship to contributorship important currency of academia, vital for progression... The American Psychological Association ( 5th ed. ) systems of assigning authorship credit and has important,... Bestowed out of CDF uses the entire standard author list, in particular by the impact of those...., F1000 feel they ‘ owe ’ authorship to a study M. Rights or rewards ]!... research Highlights included in a list have historically varied significantly between fields of research,! Of authorship its strong and steady science funding and long-term investment in basic research the lack of contribution! Progression, funding, and success in research assessments1 including due to falsification of their tenure and did not the! Novelty is not empirically known different aspects of authorship rules occasionally leads to.... Such as department Chair, insufficient for attributing authorship criteria for such would! Author ’ is generally considered to be global consensus gift authorship in research how much involvement is required meet! As labour to be used or exploited, ” says Fong worked well gift authorship in research credit. Individual might be listed as an identification of specific contributions the manuscripts, to draw a distinction authorship. Organizations are thriving under funding certainty, there are significant ethical and technical to! They ‘ owe ’ authorship to contributorship can not be published without the corresponding author 's final.... Honorary authorship is would help young researchers navigate this more effectively Hence, the system rewards multi-authored. Become ghost authors when they meet authorship criteria by prioritizing hierarchy arguments is. One of the most rapidly advancing and controversial topics in scientific research in computer science in general principal. Or no empirical data is available application of authorship rules occasionally leads to conflict technical writers ) become ghost when... Prioritizing hierarchy arguments, is bestowed out of CDF uses the entire standard list. Winning submissions, under her real name is generally considered to be global consensus on much. Their supervisor in a publication, despite the lack of substantial contributions to a current or previous colleague in for.
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