Trouble in Paradise: Problems in Academic Research Co-authoring

Area of Science:

• Academic research
• Scientific publishing
• Research integrity

Background:

• Concerns exist regarding co-authorship credit in research publications.
• Issues include excluding deserving contributors or including undeserving ones.
• Lack of consensus on criteria for deserving co-authorship.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate factors influencing co-author crediting outcomes.
• To develop a conceptual model for understanding authorship disputes.
• To examine perceived unwarranted exclusion and inclusion in co-authorship.

Main Methods:

• Qualitative study using interviews with 60 US academic researchers across 14 disciplines.
• Analysis of 161 website posts from 93 study participants.
• Data collected from geographically distributed research-intensive universities.

Main Results:

• Identified disciplinary, institutional, and team-specific factors influencing authorship decisions.
• Revealed complexities in defining 'deserving' contributions for co-authorship.
• Developed an empirically-informed conceptual model for co-author crediting outcomes.

Conclusions:

• Co-author crediting is influenced by a complex interplay of factors.
• Discipline, institutional culture, power dynamics, and team norms shape authorship outcomes.
• Further research is needed to establish clearer guidelines for co-authorship in scientific research.