Un análisis de la autoría en los artículos publicados en la Revista Médica de Chile

Authorship: an ethical dilemma of science

“…On the one hand, the strengthening of multidisciplinary teams and multicenter studies has meant larger numbers of co-authors in articles. 7,12,13 On the other hand, "gift" authorship has arisen. This term characterizes several forms of undue inclusion of authors, for example the inclusion of people in the list of authors with the aim of pleasing somebody and thus receiving something in return.…”

“…Regardless of counter-opinions about the influence of personal promotion, 7 the majority of the studies consulted for the present review mention this factor as having a strong influence on the subject. [1][2]4,6,[8][9][10][11][12][13]15 In the introduction of his book "Civilization and its discontents", 36 Freud wrote that there is an inescapable impression that people seek success, power and wealth, while underestimating the real values of life. In mentioning career promotion as a cause of authorship inflation, Fye emphatically stated that "ego and economics are the two most powerful stimuli of medical writing".…”

“…This policy had a high potential for creating a wide range of irregular procedures. [1][2][3]6,[12][13][14][16][17][18]25,28 The cycle of "research, publication, promotion, prestige, and more research money" was thus constituted. This cycle would attract those more ambitious professionals and would be responsible for a large number of irrelevant publications.…”

“…There was a case in 1995, in which it was revealed that data had been falsified in two articles published in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. 11,13 One of the co-authors was the principal researcher's chief and the editor of the journal, which caused enormous repercussion. The explanation given by the person involved in the gift authorship was that "chairmen are always listed among the authors by courtesy".…”

“…1,2,4,6,[8][9][10][11][12][13] The other factor, closely linked with the first one and just as important, is the pressure exerted by academia, in which voluminous scientific production is demanded from researchers. 1,3,[10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] Regrettably, such pressure has encouraged not only increased co-authorship but also other forms of misconduct in authorship. 2 In 1978, a group of editors assembled in Vancouver, Canada, to create the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (IC-MJE), with the objective of standardizing the publication of scientific articles and standardizing the criteria for writing and authorship.…”