The Authorship Project

That’s why we’re working to cultivate an ethical culture of authorship in higher education. Whether you’re a student, faculty member, or just curious to learn more, we have resources to help. University of North Carolina at Charlotte faculty & students click here for university specific resources. Learn more about academic authorship & common practices across disciplines. Understand common authorship issues & get help navigating responsibilities. Check out materials and tips for how to incorporate them into your classes.

Find out how institutions can support faculty & students with authorship dilemmas. Rasmussen, L. M., Banks, G. C., Demeter, E., Holladay-Sandidge, H. D., McBride, A., Hall-Hertel, K., and Tonidandel, S. (2023).

Nature Human Behaviour. DOI: 10.1038/s41562-023-01758-8. Rasmussen, L. M., Holladay-Sandidge, H. D., Demeter, E., Banks, G. C., & McBride, A.

(2023). Authorship agreement. The Authorship Project. https://doi.org/doi:10.55370/nc.921 View the policy that we have developed for our institution: https://legal.charlotte.edu/policies/up-318 Rasmussen, L.M., Williams, C.E., Hausfeld, M.M.

Banks, G.C., & Davis, B.C. (2020). Science and Engineering Ethics, 26, 3393–3413. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-020-00273-7 Holladay-Sandidge, H. D., Rasmussen, L.

M., Demeter, E., McBride, A., Banks, G. C., and Hall-Hertel, K. (2024). Teaching Ethics. DOI: 10.5840/tej202463151. Same great content, better user experience!

We’ve upgraded our courses to an improved interface with better functionality across devices. While our courses now feature responsive design, we do still encourage you to complete them in a normal web browser for an optimal experience. Please note: To guarantee that you receive a personalized, downloadable completion certificate, you still must complete the course in one sitting. Our courses do not store your data, so they will not remember if you exit your browser and return at a later time. Please plan accordingly. For students at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte:

Our university course is available in Canvas. Please see the flyer on the right for instructions on how to enroll yourself in the Canvas course. Address correspondence to Sana Syed, MD, Laney Graduate School, Emory University, Emory University School of Medicine, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, 2015 Upper Gate Dr NE, Atlanta, GA 30322. E-mail: sana.syed@emory.edu; syedsana@gmail.com Researchers often face dilemmas about authorship. When the researchers are graduate students, fellows, or junior faculty, the dilemmas might involve discussions about fair criteria for more senior faculty to be acknowledged as key contributors or authors on manuscripts.

This “Ethics Rounds” presents a case in which a fellow faced such a dilemma. We review current journal guidelines for authorship and some ethical considerations that should help make this process more streamlined. We sought comments from fellows, faculty, and a journal editor. The discussion highlights ways in which decisions can either unfairly withhold authorship or inappropriately include someone as an author who did not meet criteria for authorship. John, a research fellow in the Department of Pediatrics, was working on developing a proposal. He approached his mentor, Dr Smith, to brainstorm research ideas.

While discussing a potential idea with him, Dr Smith mentioned that she had briefly talked about this topic with a clinical attending, Dr Wang, and that she and Dr Wang agreed that it was... Dr Wang had never followed up on the conversation. Dr Smith encouraged John to develop the idea for his own project. John subsequently developed a well-formulated research proposal, including an original hypothesis, aims, methods, and an analysis plan. One weekend, while attending a symposium where Dr Wang was present, John told him about the research project. Dr Wang became visibly upset and told John that this was his research idea and that he should be part of the research team.

Dr Wang insisted on being the lead investigator. Dr Wang is primarily a clinician and does not have a record of successful original research or research mentorship. However, the Department of Pediatrics has a long-standing tradition of including clinicians on manuscripts published by the research fellows for studies involving patients under the care of those physicians. After some discussion, Dr Wang conceded that he should not be the lead investigator but insisted that, because the project was his idea, he should be an author, and perhaps the lead author, on... In an effort to further encourage strong relationships between indie authors, local libraries, and readers, we have partnered with curators and libraries across the U.S. and Canada to find the best indie-published books.

Determining who qualifies as an author on a scholarly work—and in what order—can be one of the most complex and consequential aspects of academic publishing. Questions of authorship touch on professional ethics, disciplinary norms, collaboration dynamics, and institutional expectations. As research becomes increasingly interdisciplinary and collaborative, the need for clarity around authorship roles, responsibilities, and agreements has never been greater. This guide, developed in collaboration with Dr. Alice Young and Dr. Casside Street, brings together a wide range of resources to support researchers, students, and faculty in navigating the multifaceted landscape of academic authorship.

Topics include definitions of authorship, contributor roles and taxonomies, authorship agreements, common sources of dispute, and how to address misconduct. Whether you are preparing your first manuscript, mentoring students, or managing collaborative research teams, this guide is designed to help you foster transparency, accountability, and fairness in your publishing practices.

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