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DOI: https://doi.org/10.24318/cope.2019.2.22

How to recognise potential authorship problems.

Clear policies (that allow for transparency around who contributed to the work and in what capacity) should be in place for requirements for authorship and contributorship as well as processes for managing potential disputes.

About this resource

Author Developed by COPE Council
Version 1 November 2018
How to cite this
COPE Council. How to recognise potential authorship problems. Version 1. 2018 https://doi.org/10.24318/cope.2019.2.22

Our COPE materials are available to use under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs license
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/
Attribution — You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work).
Non-commercial — You may not use this work for commercial purposes. No Derivative Works —
You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work. We ask that you give full accreditation to COPE with a link to our website: publicationethics.org

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.24318/cope.2019.2.18

COPE's guidance as a flowchart on what to do if you suspect ghost, guest, or gift authorship.

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. Suspected ghost, guest or gift authorship. Version 2. 2013 https://doi.org/10.24318/cope.2019.2.18

Our COPE materials are available to use under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs license
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/
Attribution — You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work).
Non-commercial — You may not use this work for commercial purposes. No Derivative Works —
You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work. We ask that you give full accreditation to COPE with a link to our website: publicationethics.org

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.24318/cope.2019.2.16

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 https://doi.org/10.24318/cope.2019.2.16

Our COPE materials are available to use under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs license
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/
Attribution — You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work).
Non-commercial — You may not use this work for commercial purposes. No Derivative Works —
You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work. We ask that you give full accreditation to COPE with a link to our website: publicationethics.org

Full page history

DOI: https://doi.org/10.24318/cope.2019.3.3

This document, based on the COPE Discussion Document titled What Constitutes Authorship? resulted from a review of the COPE Forum cases related to authorship, comments from COPE members related to the discussion document, and a desire to move past the stage of discussion to providing practical advice on addressing the most common issues around authorship. We are therefore providing specific guidance where there seems to be consensus and asking for further comments from COPE members in some areas.

About this resource

Written by COPE Council
Version 1 June 2014
Version 2 September 2019
How to cite this  COPE Council. COPE Discussion Document: Authorship. September 2019.  https://doi.org/10.24318/cope.2019.3.3

Our COPE materials are available to use under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs license
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Attribution — You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they
endorse you or your use of the work).

Non-commercial — You may not use this work for commercial purposes. No Derivative Works — You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work. We ask that you give full accreditation to COPE with a link to our website: publicationethics.org

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  • 20 September 2019

    Version 2 September 2019

The topic for discussion at this Forum was ‘Authorship, contributorship, who’s doing what, and what do we need?’ Authorship issues are one of the most common issues that COPE members have to deal with.  Leaving aside the ethically problematic issues of ghost, guest and gift authorship, seemingly simpler authorship disputes of for example, who deserves authorship, or what author order should be are very common across most disciplines

DOI: https://doi.org/10.24318/cope.2019.2.11

COPE's guidance, as a flowchart, on Changes in authorship, Part (d) A request is received for the removal of an author after publication.

Ask why the author wishes to be removed from list – refer to journal guidelines orthe authorship declaration which should state that all authors meet the appropriate criteria. Ask if author suspects fraud or misconduct.

Other flowcharts in this series:

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.Request for removal of author after publication. Version 2. 2013

Our COPE materials are available to use under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs license
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/
Attribution — You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work).
Non-commercial — You may not use this work for commercial purposes. No Derivative Works —
You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work. We ask that you give full accreditation to COPE with a link to our website: publicationethics.org

Full page history

DOI: https://doi.org/10.24318/cope.2019.2.10

COPE's guidance, as a flowchart, on Changes in authorship, Part (c) A request is received for the addition of an extra author after publication.

To prevent future problems:

  1. Before publication, get authors to sign statement that all listed authors meet authorship criteria and that no others meeting the criteria have been omitted.
  2. Publish details of each person’s contribution to their search and publication.

Other flowcharts in this series:

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.Request for addition of extra author after publication. Version 2. 2013
 
Our COPE materials are available to use under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs license
Attribution — You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work).
Non-commercial — You may not use this work for commercial purposes. No Derivative Works —
You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work. We ask that you give full accreditation to COPE with a link to our website: publicationethics.org

Full page history

COPE's first webinar for information, shared discussion and practical advice on common authorship issues faced by COPE members, was held in June 2017.

Guest speakers:
Deborah Poff, Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Academic Ethics 
Kelly Cobey, Senior Clinical Research Associate, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
Liz Allen, Director of Strategic Initiatives, F1000

News

Standards in authorship webinar

On Thursday 29 June 2-3pm we're holding our first webinar for information, shared discussion and practical advice on common authorship issues faced by COPE members.

Three guest speakers will present their views: Deborah Poff, Editor-in-Chief Journal of Academic Ethics; Kelly Cobey Senior Clinical Research Associate at Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Canada; Liz Allen, Director of Strategic Initiatives at F1000.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.24318/cope.2019.3.4

¿Qué constituye una autoría?

Antecedentes

About this resource

Written by COPE Council
Version 1 June 2014

How to cite this  COPE Council. What constitutes authorship? (Latin American Spanish). June 2014.  https://doi.org/10.24318/cope.2019.3.4

Our COPE materials are available to use under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs license
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Attribution — You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they
endorse you or your use of the work).

Non-commercial — You may not use this work for commercial purposes. No Derivative Works — You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work. We ask that you give full accreditation to COPE with a link to our website: publicationethics.org

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  • 14 November 2019

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