Transparency in authors’ contributions and responsibilities to promote integrity in scientific publication

Marcia K. McNutt, Monica Bradford, Jeffrey M. Drazen, Brooks Hanson, Bob Howard, Kathleen Hall Jamieson, Véronique Kiermer, Emilie Marcus, Barbara Kline Pope, Randy Schekman, Sowmya Swaminathan, Peter J. Stang, and Inder M. Verma
PNAS March 13, 2018 115 (11) 2557-2560; first published February 27, 2018 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1715374115

  1. Edited by Karen S. Cook, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, and approved January 18, 2018 (received for review August 30, 2017)

Abstract

In keeping with the growing movement in scientific publishing toward transparency in data and methods, we propose changes to journal authorship policies and procedures to provide insight into which author is responsible for which contributions, better assurance that the list is complete, and clearly articulated standards to justify earning authorship credit. To accomplish these goals, we recommend that journals adopt common and transparent standards for authorship, outline responsibilities for corresponding authors, adopt the Contributor Roles Taxonomy (CRediT) (docs.casrai.org/CRediT) methodology for attributing contributions, include this information in article metadata, and require authors to use the ORCID persistent digital identifier (https://orcid.org). Additionally, we recommend that universities and research institutions articulate expectations about author roles and responsibilities to provide a point of common understanding for discussion of authorship across research teams. Furthermore, we propose that funding agencies adopt the ORCID identifier and accept the CRediT taxonomy. We encourage scientific societies to further authorship transparency by signing on to these recommendations and promoting them through their meetings and publications programs.

Footnotes

  • ↵1To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: NASPresident{at}nas.edu.

  • ↵2Present address: Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, MD 21218.

This open access article is distributed under Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 (CC BY).

  1. Marcia K. McNutta,1,
  2. Monica Bradfordb,
  3. Jeffrey M. Drazenc,
  4. Brooks Hansond,
  5. Bob Howarde,
  6. Kathleen Hall Jamiesonf,
  7. Véronique Kiermerg,
  8. Emilie Marcush,
  9. Barbara Kline Popei,2,
  10. Randy Schekmanj,k,
  11. Sowmya Swaminathanl,
  12. Peter J. Stangm, and
  13. Inder M. Verman
  1. aNational Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC 20001;
  2. bScience Journals, American Association for the Advancement of Science, Washington, DC 20005;
  3. cNew England Journal of Medicine, Boston, MA 02115;
  4. dAmerican Geophysical Union, Washington, DC 20009;
  5. eSAGE Publishing, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320;
  6. fAnnenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104;
  7. gPLOS (Public Library of Science), San Francisco, CA 94111;
  8. hCell Press, Cambridge, MA 02139;
  9. iThe National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, Washington, DC 20418;
  10. jUniversity of California, Berkeley, CA 94720;
  11. keLife, Cambridge CB2 1JB, United Kingdom;
  12. lNature Research, San Francisco, CA 94104;
  13. mUniversity of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112;
  14. nSalk Institute for Biological Studies, San Diego, CA 92037

  1. Edited by Karen S. Cook, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, and approved January 18, 2018 (received for review August 30, 2017)

Abstract

In keeping with the growing movement in scientific publishing toward transparency in data and methods, we propose changes to journal authorship policies and procedures to provide insight into which author is responsible for which contributions, better assurance that the list is complete, and clearly articulated standards to justify earning authorship credit. To accomplish these goals, we recommend that journals adopt common and transparent standards for authorship, outline responsibilities for corresponding authors, adopt the Contributor Roles Taxonomy (CRediT) (docs.casrai.org/CRediT) methodology for attributing contributions, include this information in article metadata, and require authors to use the ORCID persistent digital identifier (https://orcid.org). Additionally, we recommend that universities and research institutions articulate expectations about author roles and responsibilities to provide a point of common understanding for discussion of authorship across research teams. Furthermore, we propose that funding agencies adopt the ORCID identifier and accept the CRediT taxonomy. We encourage scientific societies to further authorship transparency by signing on to these recommendations and promoting them through their meetings and publications programs.

  • authorship principles
  • research transparency
  • scientific integrity

Footnotes

  • ↵1To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: NASPresident{at}nas.edu.

  • ↵2Present address: Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, MD 21218.

This open access article is distributed under Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 (CC BY).

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Transparency in authors’ contributions and responsibilities to promote integrity in scientific publication
Marcia K. McNutt, Monica Bradford, Jeffrey M. Drazen, Brooks Hanson, Bob Howard, Kathleen Hall Jamieson, Véronique Kiermer, Emilie Marcus, Barbara Kline Pope, Randy Schekman, Sowmya Swaminathan, Peter J. Stang, Inder M. Verma
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Mar 2018, 115 (11) 2557-2560; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1715374115
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