Authorship: "Law" and order

Publication is a marker of academic success. In academia, appointments and promotions are in many cases strongly linked to the candidate's bibliography. The "publish or perish" mindset has placed extraordinary pressures on scientists and academic physicians alike. Authorship controversies have received considerable attention in the medical literature. Although guidelines are available to help determine how attribution should be acknowledged, anecdotal experiences with disputes associated with authorship continue to exist. This paper addresses several key problems facing authorship. A discussion of who should be given authorship, the responsibilities of an author, and a method for assigning authorship in a multiauthored publication is provided.