Editors cannot police author or contributor listings for every submission but may sometimes have suspicions that an author list is incomplete or includes undeserving (guest or gift) authors. The COPE flowchart 'Suspected ghost, guest or gift authorship' suggests actions for these situations. The points in this flowchart are designed to help editors be alert for inappropriate authorship and spot warning signs which may indicate problems.
About this resource
Author Developed for COPE by Liz Wager of Sideview © 2013 Committee on Publication Ethics First published 2006
Version 1 2006
How to cite this
COPE Council. How to spot authorship problems. Version 2. 2013
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