After finishing the first 3 years of medical school, Sarah decided to take a year off to spend time in a basic science laboratory. The aspect of the lab that she liked most was the tremendous latitude and independence to devise, develop, and test her own project idea while still receiving the necessary support and guidance from her postdoctoral fellow and her primary investigator, Bill.As the year-long experience began to draw to a close, Sarah began to spend more nights and weekends in the lab to finish the project before returning to her clinical duties. When she sent the first draft of the manuscript to Bill for review, she was pleased that he believed it to be nearly publication-ready, suggesting only a few minor changes. She was surprised, however, by one of his first comments: "Include Drs. Smith and Jones as coauthors-this is a topic of interest to them." Drs. Smith and Jones were nationally known, well-regarded senior investigators in the department, but Sarah had never even met either of them.
CommentaryWhy would Bill want Sarah to include Drs. Smith and Jones as coauthors? Clearly, their inclusion in the byline is honorary and not reflective of work on the research project or manuscript. Three reasons could be hypothesized [1,2]. First, Bill might hope that having the names of these researchers attached to the paper will garner better reviews of it. We know that they are interested in the field and are nationally known, so perhaps Bill anticipates the paper's peer reviewers will recognize their names on the byline and think favorably of the paper, irrespective of its content. Second, Bill may be wishing for some sort of quid pro quo-either returning a favor from Drs. Smith and Jones or hoping they will include him on their papers or pay him back in some way. Third, Bill may be obligated to include them because they are senior investigators. It may be a departmental expectation that Drs. Smith and Jones be listed as authors because of their positions of authority (e.g., division or department chair). Or there could be covert pressure or coercion on Bill by Drs. Smith or Jones to be included on the paper.Why should Sarah care? If she were purely self-interested, she would think that including the doctors as coauthors would add prestige to the paper and increase its chance of being published. She wants the paper to be published so she can gain recognition for her work and add the publication to her CV. If she asks other medical students or perhaps the postdoctoral fellow in her lab, they may tell her that this is a common practice and that she should not rock the boat.