Scientific authorship: a primer for researchers

Abstract

The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) proposed the authorship criteria which can be employed by medics and allied specialists. Scholars who substantively contribute to research and writing, revise, approve final drafts for target journal submissions, and take responsibility for all aspects of the work deserve authorship. Increasing awareness of the ICMJE criteria, incorporating related points in journal instructions, and enforcing them in daily practice may have positive impact for healthcare. Instances of inappropriate authorship are ethical transgressions which can be avoided by editors employing strategies of author profile evaluations. There are several platforms for recording author accomplishments which may improve the discoverability of scholarly works and prevent unethical conduct. <br /> Most publishers advise authors to submit their Open Researcher and Contributor IDs (ORCID) at the manuscript submission. Other identifiers, such as Twitter handles, are also emerging as tools to stimulate post-publication communication and increase authors’ accountability for published articles.

Practical Guidance for Crafting Original Research Manuscripts

“…Based on material contributions, the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) has established 4 criteria to be met for a person to be credited with coauthorship (http://www.icmje.org). 4,5 All coauthors are accountable for the accuracy and integrity of the work, but the order of the author list is generally expected to adhere to conventions unless an alphabetic order is used (typically reserved for extremely large author panels). The first author is normally the person who takes chief responsibility for developing the manuscript.…”

How to write a good scientific review article

“…Once you have collectively worked through the steps outlined below as part of the planning process, you can decide how to divvy up the core tasks; for example, different authors could take on different subtopics addressed in the article, or one author might be wholly responsible for generating the figures. As with all scientific articles, defining the author list and individual contributions is important to do as early as possible to avoid conflict and confusion later on [4].…”

Exploring the knowledge and acceptance of reputed Authorship Criteria: A Pilot Study among medical researchers in India

“…This practice is often called ‘Omitted authorship’. (3,4) The debate over order of authors as well as responsibilities too has drawn attention of many.…”