Before you begin- Authorship

We begin with a brief discussion about Authorship, what is is and how it may affect you over the next few months. It is a generally a good idea to have a 'formal meeting' with your supervisor and co-authors, before you start writing, where a discussion of authorship is likely to come up.

Within this course, there is an element of focus on co-authorship and collaborations and how to manage these relationships throughout the publication process, therefore it is also natural to have a brief discussion about this here.

What is authorship?

Formal definitions of authorship vary even within the STEM community. The most rigorous lies within Medicine, dictated by The Vancouver rules:

"

  1. Contributed substantially to the conception and design of the study, the acquisition of data, or the analysis and interpretation.
  2. Participate in drafting, reviewing, and/or revising the manuscript for intellectual content.
  3. Approve the manuscript to be published.

"

The Vancouver group, 1985

This is a very formal definition, we can consider it to be similar to our ball and stick atomic model: a simplified and generalised description of an ideal situation for a general audience. However, much like the ball and stick model - it does highlight the principles which underpin the basic principles of authorship.

Roles in authorship

Your manuscipt is likely to be authored by more than just you and your supervisor. It is therefore important to consider the roles each author has played to obtain such authorship. It is common place for Journals to request that you specify each author's participation in the submission of your manuscript. Some roles of authorship and their definitions are briefly covered below:

First Author

This is the first name on the list of authors. I am assuming this is you!

Corresponding Author

This is the person who will correspond with the Journal during submission process, ie. You or your Supervisor

Forgotten Authors

An author who perhaps should be on the list, are there students who have contributed to any of the first point of the definition of authorship? If so, be sure to include them throughout the process and not to leave them of the authorship list! This is worth thinking about NOW!

Gift Authors

Consider if all authors are true authors and are not being 'gifted authorship' by default. Reflect on the Vancouver Rules and discuss this with your supervisor.

The latter two situations should be avoided! It is therefore worthwhile spending sometime with your supervisor considering the appropriate authors to include within your manuscript. Do not forget summer students etc.!

Think about the convention of ordering of authors on your paper. The group leader/supervisor is conventionally last. Persons between can be ordered in order of contribution, status or alphabetically by name...

Co-authorship

It is common practice to collaborate with a number of individuals between a variety of departments, scientific fields and countries. Such collaborations can be beneficial in terms of research, ie. creativity and resources, and the shared responsibility of the manuscript can be useful within the publication process. However, managing such relations can be challenging. For example, ensuring co-authors participate in their ‘fair share’ of work, contradictory opinions, as ensuring your co-authors remain in the loop at each step of the process.

It is therefore very important to learn how to manage and communicate with your co-authors. It is a tricky task of ensuring you are providing continual communication (without bothering them excessively), allowing them ample opportunities to provide constructive feedback. Whilst you should be aware that there can be 'too many cooks in the kitchen', you must listen to and respect their opinions and suggestions!

Finally, it is worth ensuring you ask your co-authors in advance if you wish for them to directly contribute a specific figure or paragraph to the finished article.

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Posted by: Ilana Wisby