Supplementary table 3. Authorship policies in journals and codes of ethics
Science Citation IndexJournals with own definition of authorship (n=25)
Category and journal / Policy
Agriculture, Multidisciplinary: ANNALS OF APPLIED BIOLOGY / Submission of a manuscript to Annals of Applied Biology implies that all persons listed as authors qualify for authorship, and all those who qualify are listed.
Agriculture, Multidisciplinary: AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH / Authors of multi-authored papers may wish to assign relative values to their contributions, or to indicate that two or more authors contributed equally to a paper.
Behavioural Sciences: TRENDS IN COGNITIVE SCIENCES* / While this may not amount to a formal 'code of conduct', these fundamental principles with respect to the authors' paper are that the paper should: i) be the authors' own original work, which has not been previously published elsewhere ii) reflect the authors' own research and analysis and do so in a truthful and complete manner, iii) properly credit the meaningful contributions of co-authors and co-researchers, iv) not be submitted to more than one journal for consideration, and v) be appropriately placed in the context of prior and existing research.
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology: CELL / The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that all appropriate contributors are listed as authors and that all authors have agreed to the manuscript’s content and its submission to Cell. In a case where we become aware of an authorship dispute, authorship must be approved in writing by all of the parties.
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology: NATURE MEDICINE
Neurosciences: NATURE REVIEW OF NEUROSCIENCE*
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary: NATURE MATERIALS
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary: NATURE NANOTECHNOLOGY
Multidisciplinary Sciences: NATURE
Neurosciences: NATURE NEUROSCIENCE
Physics, Multidisciplinary: NATURE PHYSICS / Nature journals' authorship policy
Being an author
The Nature journals do not require all authors of a research paper to sign the letter of submission, nor do they impose an order on the list of authors. Submission to a Nature journal is taken by the journal to mean that all the listed authors have agreed all of the contents. The corresponding (submitting) author is responsible for having ensured that this agreement has been reached, and for managing all communication between the journal and all co-authors, before and after publication. Any changes to the author list after submission, such as a change in the order of the authors, or the deletion or addition of authors, needs to be approved by a letter signed by every author. (The letter should be scanned and uploaded to the journal's online tracking system by the corresponding author.)
Responsibilities of senior team members on multi-group collaborations
The editors at the Nature journals assume that at least one member of each collaboration, usually the most senior member of each submitting group or team, has accepted responsibility for the contributions to the manuscript from that team. This responsibility includes, but is not limited to: (1) ensuring that original data upon which the submission is based is preserved and retrievable for reanalysis; (2) approving data presentation as representative of the original data; and (3) foreseeing and minimizing obstacles to the sharing of data, materials, algorithms or reagents described in the work.
Author contributions statements
Authors are required to include a statement of responsibility in the manuscript that specifies the contribution of every author. The level of detail varies; some disciplines produce manuscripts that comprise discrete efforts readily articulated in detail, whereas other fields operate as group efforts at all stages. A Nature Editorial describing this policy in more detail, 'Author Contributions', is included in the list of links at the foot of this page. Examples of published "author contributions" statements can be seen at this Nautilus post. Nature journals also allow two coauthors to be specified as having contributed equally to the work being described (most often used for co-first authors), but prefer authors to use the "author contributions" style for reader clarity.
Authorship of a paper is justified when a researcher has contributed significantly to the work being described and to the writing or approval of the manuscript.
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology: TRENDS IN BIOCHEMICAL SCIENCES / The Editor(s) and Publisher of this Journal believe that there are fundamental principles underlying scholarly or professional publishing. While this may not amount to a formal 'code of conduct', these fundamental principles with respect to the authors' paper are that the paper should: i) be the authors' own original work, which has not been previously published elsewhere, ii) reflect the authors' own research and analysis and do so in a truthful and complete manner, iii) properly credit the meaningful contributions of co-authors and co-researchers, iv) not be submitted to more than one journal for consideration, and v) be appropriately placed in the context of prior and existing research.
Biology: FASEB JOURNAL / The Editors expect each author to have made an important scientific contribution to the study and be thoroughly familiar with the original data. The Editors also expect each author to have read the complete manuscript and to take responsibility for the content and completeness of the manuscript and to understand that if the paper, or part of the paper, is found to be faulty or fraudulent, that he/she shares responsibility with his/her coauthors. Because we hold each author to this high standard, the copyright form must be signed by every author. Furthermore, if a manuscript has 10 or more authors, each author will be required to submit a statement of authorship to the Journal stating that he or she has read each page of the paper and consents to the paper being submitted to the Journal for publication.
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary: CHEMICAL SOCIETY REVIEWS* / Ethical Guidelines for Publication in Journals and Reviews:
There is no universally agreed definition of authorship. As a minimum, authors should take responsibility for a particular section of the study. The award of authorship should balance intellectual contributions to the conception, design, analysis and writing of the study against the collection of data and other routine work. If there is no task that can reasonably be attributed to a particular individual, then that individual should not be credited with authorship. All authors must take public responsibility for the content of their paper. The multidisciplinary nature of much research can make this difficult, but this may be resolved by the disclosure of individual contributions.
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary: ANGEWANDTE CHEMIE-INTERNATIONAL EDITION / Ethical Guidelines for Publication in Journals and Reviews:
There is no universally agreed definition of authorship. As a minimum, authors should take responsibility for a particular section of the study. The award of authorship should balance intellectual contributions to the conception, design, analysis and writing of the study against the collection of data and other routine work. If there is no task that can reasonably be attributed to a particular individual, then that individual should not be credited with authorship. All authors must take public responsibility for the content of their paper. The multidisciplinary nature of much research can make this difficult, but this may be resolved by the disclosure of individual contributions.
Computer Sciences, Interdisciplinary Applications: BIOINFORMATICS / All persons designated as authors should qualify for authorship. Each author should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for the content. Authorship credit should be based on substantial contribution to conception and design, execution, or analysis and interpretation of data. All authors should be involved in drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content, and must have read and approved the final version of the manuscript.
Education, Scientific Disciplines: MEDICAL TEACHER / Contributions must be substantial in order to warrant authorship. Each author should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for the content. All other contributors should be listed as acknowledgements.
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary: GLOBAL BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES / Guidelines to Publication of Geophysical Research: Only individuals who have significantly contributed to the research and preparation of the article should be listed as authors. All of these coauthors share responsibility for submitted articles. While not all coauthors may be familiar with all aspects of the research presented in their article, each should have in place an appropriate process for reviewing the accuracy of the reported results. A deceased person who met the criteria described here may be designated as an author. The corresponding author accepts the responsibility of having included as authors all persons who meet these criteria for authorship and none who do not. Other contributors who do not meet the authorship criteria should be appropriately acknowledged in the article. The corresponding author also attests that all living coauthors have seen the final version of the article, agree with the major conclusions, and have agreed to its submission for publication.
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary: PALEOCEANOGRAPHY / Guidelines to Publication of Geophysical Research: Only individuals who have significantly contributed to the research and preparation of the article should be listed as authors. All of these coauthors share responsibility for submitted articles. While not all coauthors may be familiar with all aspects of the research presented in their article, each should have in place an appropriate process for reviewing the accuracy of the reported results. A deceased person who met the criteria described here may be designated as an author. The corresponding author accepts the responsibility of having included as authors all persons who meet these criteria for authorship and none who do not. Other contributors who do not meet the authorship criteria should be appropriately acknowledged in the article. The corresponding author also attests that all living coauthors have seen the final version of the article, agree with the major conclusions, and have agreed to its submission for publication.
Multidisciplinary Sciences: SCIENCE / All authors must agree to be so listed and must have seen and approved the manuscript, its content, and its submission to Science. Any changes in authorship must be approved in writing by all the original authors. Science will send an email to all authors to confirm receipt of each paper. Submission of a paper that has not been approved by all authors may result in immediate rejection without appeal.
Policies at most scientific journals state that a person should belisted as the author of a paper only if that person made a direct andsubstantial intellectual contribution to the design of the research, theinterpretation of the data, or the drafting of the paper, although studentswill find that scientific fields and specific journals vary in theirpolicies.
Multidisciplinary Sciences: PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA / Authorshipshould be limited to those who have contributed substantially to the work. The corresponding author must have obtained permission from all authors for the submission of each version of the paper and for any change in authorship. All collaborators share some degree of responsibility for any paper they coauthor. Some coauthors have responsibility for the entire paper as an accurate, e report of the research. These include coauthors who are accountable for the integrity of the data reported in the paper, carry out the analysis, write the manuscript, present major s at conferences, or provide c leadership to junior colleagues. Coauthors who make, limited contributions to a paper are responsible for their contributions but may have only limited responsibility for other results. While not all coauthors may be familiar with all aspects of the research presented in their paper, all collaborators should have in place an appropriate process for reviewing the accuracy of the reported results. Authors must indicate their c contributions to the published work. This information will be published as a footnote to the paper.
Multidisciplinary Sciences: JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY INTERFACE / The list of Authors should accurately reflect who carried out the research and who wrote the article.
The list of Authors should correspond to the following criteria; 1) substantial contributions to conception and design, or acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data; 2) drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content; and 3) final approval of the version to be published. Authors should meet all three of these conditions.
All Authors must meet these criteria for authorship and conversely, no-one should be omitted from the list if he/she meets these criteria.
We will attempt to resolve any disputes of authorship arising after publication if asked to do so. We may consider publishing a correction should this be deemed appropriate.
Physics, Multidisciplinary: REVIEWS OF MODERN PHYSICS* / Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the concept, design, execution or interpretation of the research study. All those who have made significant contributions should be offered the opportunity to be listed as authors. Other individuals who have contributed to the study should be acknowledged, but not identified as authors
Physics, Multidisciplinary: PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS / Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the concept, design, execution or interpretation of the research study. All those who have made significant contributions should be offered the opportunity to be listed as authors. Other individuals who have contributed to the study should be acknowledged, but not identified as authors.
Zoology: JOURNAL OF COMPARATIVE NEUROLOGY / Authors should include all individuals who contributed to the conception and design or to the analysis and interpretation of the work. Purely technical contributions or providing materials or equipment generally does not merit authorship.
Journals with the definition of authorship by a professional organization (n=13):
Category and journal / Policy
Agriculture, Multidisciplinary: JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL AND FOOD CHEMISTRY
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary: CHEMICAL REVIEWS*
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary: ACCOUNTS OF CHEMICAL RESEARCH*
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary: NANO LETT
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary: JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY / ACS publications – Ethical guidelines The co-authors of a paper should be all those persons who have made significant scientific contributions to the work reported and who share responsibility and accountability for the results. Other contributions should be indicated in a footnote or an “Acknowledgments” section. An administrative relationship to the investigation does not of itself qualify a person for co-authorship (but occasionally it may be appropriate to acknowledge major administrative assistance). Deceased persons who meet the criterion for inclusion as co-authors should be so included, with a footnote reporting date of death. No fictitious name should be listed as an author or coauthor. The author who submits a manuscript for publication accepts the responsibility of having included as co-authors all persons appropriate and none inappropriate. The submitting author should have sent each living co-author a draft copy of the manuscript and have obtained the co-author’s assent to co-authorship of it.
Biology: BIOESSAYS / COPE guidelines:
There is no universally agreed definition of authorship, although attempts have been made. As a minimum, authors should take responsibility for a particular section of the study.
(1) The award of authorship should balance intellectual contributions to the conception, design, analysis and writing of the study against the collection of data and other routine work. If there is no task that can reasonably be attributed to a particular individual, then that individual should not be credited with authorship.
(2) To avoid disputes over attribution of academic credit, it is helpful to decide early on in the planning of a research project who will be credited as authors, as contributors, and who will be acknowledged.
(3) All authors must take public responsibility for the content of their paper. The multidisciplinary nature of much research can make this difficult, but this can be resolved by the disclosure of individual contributions.
(4) Careful reading of the target journal’s “Advice to Authors” is advised, in the light of current uncertainties.
Computer Sciences, Interdisciplinary Applications: NEUROINFORMATICS
Education, Scientific Disciplines: ACADEMIC MEDICINE
Education, Scientific Disciplines: MEDICAL EDUCATION
Medicine, General & Internal: NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE
Medicine, General & Internal: LANCET
Medicine, General & Internal: JAMA-JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION
Medicine, General & Internal: ANNALS OF INTERNAL MEDICINE / ICMJE definition:
Authorship credit should be based on 1) substantial contributions to conception and design, acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data; 2) drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content; and 3) final approval of the version to be published. Authors should meet conditions 1, 2, and 3.
Acquisition of funding, collection of data, or general supervision of the research group alone does not constitute authorship.
All persons designated as authors should qualify for authorship, and all those who qualify should be listed.
Each author should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for appropriate portions of the content.
Journals with the definition of authorship from a publisher (n=20):
Category and journal / Policy
Acoustics: ULTRASONICS SONOCHEMISTRY
Acoustics: ULTRASOUND IN MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY
Agriculture, Multidisciplinary: AGRICULTURE ECOSYSTEMS & ENVIRONMENT
Agriculture, Multidisciplinary: AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS
Agronomy: AGRICULTURAL AND FOREST METEOROLOGY
Behavioural Sciences: NEUROSCIENCE AND BIOBEHAVIORAL REVIEWS*
Behavioural Sciences: NEUROPSYCHOLOGIA
Computer Sciences, Interdisciplinary Applications: MEDICAL IMAGE ANALYSIS
Education, Scientific Disciplines: JOURNAL OF NUTRITION EDUCUCATION AND BEHAVIOUR
Engineering: COMBUST FLAME
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary: EARTH-SCIENCE REVIEWS
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary: QUATERNARY SCIENCE REVIEWS*
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary: PROGRESS IN MATERIALS SCIENCE
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary: MATERIALS SCIENCE & ENGINEERING R-REPORTS*