Dragon Kill Points: applying a transparent working template to relieve authorship stress

Area of Science:

• Collaborative Research
• Academic Publishing
• Scientific Communication

Background:

• Academic authorship attribution is complex and often contentious.
• Existing frameworks for ranking contributions can be inadequate, leading to disputes.
• Fairly recognizing all contributions, including middle authorship, remains a challenge.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce Dragon Kill Points, a novel system for tracking and ranking academic contributions.
• To provide a practical and scalable solution for managing authorship in collaborative research.
• To reduce authorship-related conflicts and promote inclusivity.

Main Methods:

• Adapted principles from multiplayer gaming to create a contribution tracking system.
• Developed Dragon Kill Points based on five core principles: granularity, responsibility, equity, autonomy, and transparency (GREAT).
• Designed the system to ensure detailed task records, clear criteria, equitable rules, contributor flexibility, and shared documentation.

Main Results:

• Dragon Kill Points provides a structured method for monitoring contributions throughout a project's lifecycle.
• The system facilitates detailed task recording and clear attribution of responsibilities.
• Implementation of Dragon Kill Points can lead to reduced disputes and enhanced inclusivity.

Conclusions:

• Dragon Kill Points offers a scalable and practical approach to managing academic authorship.
• The GREAT principles ensure a fair and transparent system for recognizing diverse contributions.
• This framework has the potential to improve collaboration dynamics and authorship equity in research.