Guidance for new researchers on good authorship practice, and advice on how to deal with authorship issues as they arise.
- Authors should discuss authorship when planning research, agree authorship in writing, and revisit the agreement through stages of the research.
- Handle disagreements as they happen.
- Negotiate disputes and misconduct dispassionately, using facts and guidelines.
- Acknowledgements may be acceptable to a journal when contributions do not constitute authorship.
- Authors should describe what each author contributed to the research project.
- The order of authors should be decided jointly between the authors and make it clear the editor the reasons behind the author order.
- All authors should be listed.
- People should not be added as authors if they have not contributed significantly to the project.
- Read the journal's instructions for authors as they can differ between journals.
Related resources
Authorship discussion document
Changes in authorship: Addition of extra author - after publication flowchart
Changes in authorship: Addition of extra author – before publication flowchart
Changes in authorship: Removal of author – after publication flowchart
Changes in authorship: Removal of author – before publication flowchart
Ghost, guest, or gift authorship in a submitted manuscript flowchart
How to recognise potential authorship problems infographic
How to spot authorship problems infographic
Inconclusive institutional investigation into authorship dispute case discussion (March 2019), and the university perspective on the case (March 2019)