Acknowledging the Contribution of Others

Standards for Authorship

A central question in group research that involves a shared data set becomes what contribution qualifies or requires the recognition of a person as an “author” of the project. The usual statement involves that a person, to be an author, has to make a “substantial” contribution to the manuscript. The issue of what constitutes a contribution [Page 9]and whether any such contribution is substantial remains a topic for development.

Clearly, all persons making a substantial contribution deserve authorship, or at least should be considered and given the opportunity for a listing as an author. Failure to include or provide such an opportunity can create risk for an accusation of “stealing” or taking credit for the work of others, a relatively serious charge in the academic community. The work of a scholar usually implies effort not directly paid for; instead, the expectations of scholars to publish research become part of the yearly expectations for productivity.

The question can plague a research team where one of the persons involved is the chair of the department or the academic advisor of the graduate student. The lower status person may feel required to include the higher status person, or the higher status person may “request” to be included as an author, despite minimal or no contribution to the project.

Standards for Acknowledgment

The question of acknowledging contribution to a project remains not as well defined and unclear in terms of what is expected or required. The general statement is that a person must make a substantial contribution to the production of the outcome. Such contributions can include library research, data collection, data analysis, writing or editing the manuscript, as well as brainstorming or contributing to the intellectual development of the project.

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