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Authorship in the AJR

rstanley{at}ajroffice.org

The issue of appropriate authorship seems never to be completely resolved. It continues to be revisited by individual journal editors as well as by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors at varying intervals. The last update of the ICMJE, posted on the internet, appeared in October 2004, focusing on its concerns about ethical principles related to publication in biomedical journals [1]. The initial sections address the ethical principles related to the process of evaluating, improving, and publishing manuscripts in biomedical journals and the relationships among editors, authors, and peer reviewers [1].

With a new team of editors serving the AJR since October 2003, a fresh set of eyes has been individually and collectively taking note of the remarkable variability in the number of authors associated with journal submissions, ranging from case reports to multicenter original research. We have been struck by the frequent instances in which an inappropriately high number of coauthors appears; for example, 12 coauthors for a case report.

Approaching the issue of accountability in authorship by listing some as contributors and guarantors rather than authors, as proposed in the literature in the past few years, does not appear to be the answer for the AJR [2]. Defining specific numerical guidelines for various types of manuscripts submitted, on the other hand, will allow our quality control staff to identify outliers early in the process.

Because we subscribe to the Uniform Requirements of the ICMJE, we recently have included in the AJR Guidelines for Authors, beginning in the May 2005 issue, specific maximum numbers of coauthors for different manuscript types. Under the heading Types of Articles, we specify a maximum of four coauthors, with one to three being the norm, for brief reports such as Case Reports, Rad Paths, Traumas, AJR Viewboxes, and Letters to the Editor. Original Research (formerly Major Papers), Clinical Observations (formerly Original Reports), Pictorial Essays, and Technical Innovations, may now have up to seven coauthors. These required maximums may be exceeded under special circumstances; however, our editors will require that the direct participation and contributions of the additional authors be explained in an accompanying cover letter.

Stated below are the sections of the Uniform Requirements of the ICMJE that define authorship [1, 3]. We hope that repeated dissemination of the requirements and exposure to these definitions will assist those primary authors who are occasionally placed in the awkward position of being asked to add the name of a senior person or associate to the list of coauthors, when no substantive contribution has occurred.

• Authorship credit should be based on 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 conditions 1, 2, and 3.
  
• When a large, multicenter group has conducted the work, the group should identify the individuals who accept direct responsibility for the manuscript [4]. These individuals should fully meet the criteria for authorship defined above and editors will ask these individuals to complete journal-specific author and conflict-of-interest disclosure forms. When submitting a group author manuscript, the corresponding author should clearly indicate the preferred citation and should clearly identify all individual authors as well as the group name. Journals will generally list other members of the group in the acknowledgments. The National Library of Medicine indexes the group name and the names of individuals the group has identified as being directly responsible for the manuscript.
  
• Acquisition of funding, collection of data, or general supervision of the research group, alone, does not justify 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.
  

The reasons leading to inappropriate authorship are multifactorial. One reason is that inexperienced authors may be unaware of the requirements for authorship and assume that any level of assistance in the creation of the paper justifies inclusion of that person. Another reason is that courtesy or guest authorship may be granted when gratitude for generic support seems indicated, reciprocity for past instances of the same is supplied, the need for the inclusion of multiple publications on an associate's CV is impressed upon the true author, chairs or division chiefs demand it, or other forms of pressure come to bear.

What may be lost in the entire complex process of publishing is the fact that accuracy in naming authors is a mark of professional integrity. By publishing the uniform standards of the ICMJE, as well as designating specific maximum numbers allowable, with a requirement for written requests to exceed the maximums, we hope and expect to realize a reduction in the overall number of authors per manuscript when only true authors are included.

References

1. International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. Uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals: writing and editing for biomedical publications. http://www.icmje.org. Accessed May 23, 2005
2. Rennie D, Yank V, Emanuel L. When authorship fails: a proposal to make contributors accountable. JAMA1997; 278:579 -585[Abstract]
3. Davidoff F. News from the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. Ann Intern Med2000; 133:229 -231[Free Full Text]
4. Flanagin A, Fontanarosa PB, DeAngelis CD. Authorship for research groups. JAMA2002; 288:3166 -3168[Free Full Text]

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This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Stanley, R. J. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Stanley, R. J. Social Bookmarking                      What's this?