Me, You, & You Too; or You, You Too, & Me?

Me, You, & You Too; or You, You Too, & Me?

Yup, the Issue of Academic Authorship (Roles) Emerges Again

Through our webinars and individual consults with postgraduate research students, many have asked the time-old question regarding shared authorship – especially for conference papers and articles published during and post-graduation. We usually point them in the direction of Kearns et al 1996 as a good discussion document.

For some in academia though, it’s quite a touchy subject; with many students ‘feeling’ that it isn’t important. Well, that’s a matter of opinion, as well as an extension of historical practice in some parts of the world.

Our take on the matter is that it is important! The ‘application of rules’ may not be consistent across geographies, but the importance of acknowledging the various contributions and roles played in creating a final published piece of research is both a matter of academic integrity and respect.

This very recent post by Dr Helen Kara is not only timely, but it discusses the difference between ethical co-writing and ethical co-publishing – an important added dimension to the discussion. In many cases, research students look reactively and don’t give adequate consideration to the issues; as many supervisors simply look for ways to rack up named-publication credits.

We urge research students to be proactive in discussing authorship with supervisors and other stakeholders in their research journey. We highly recommend Dr Kara's article as a great starting point for you to think through the issues:

https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2021/03/29/a-simple-guide-to-ethical-co-authorship/

Additional references worth exploring include:

Kearns, R., Arnold, G., Laituri, M., and LeHeron, R., 1996, "Exploring the Politics of Geographical Authorship", Area, Vol 28, No 3, September, pages 414-420.

Myers, K.R., George, D.R., and Green, M.J., 2017: Whose Name Goes First? (chronicle.com)

Tay. A., 2016: Five tips to overcome authorship conflict : Naturejobs Blog

and the following from the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors: ICMJE | Recommendations | Defining the Role of Authors and Contributors

Each of these give strong points to consider, and will help research students to be more informed about their rights and obligations when publishing.

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