The frequency of conflicts about the authorship of publications has increased along
with the increase in the number of people involved in scientific work and its complexity.
Some of the factors that strongly influence the generation of conflicts and disputes
in authorship definition are the pressure of competition in academia, economic incentives
from the pharmaceutical industry in the field of biomedicine, and authors own wishes
and expectations of recognition. It is necessary to have clear policies and apply
more transparency to these activities. There are clear recommendations from the International
Committee of Medical Journal Editors on authorships for medical articles. However,
authorship disputes are still seen too often with a wide spectrum of reasons. These
may reflect ignorance and errors of judgment on one end to intentional misconduct?
In this article, we (1) revisit the international guidelines, (2) present and discuss
illustrative examples of authorship disputes, and (3) explore possible solutions for
authors and editors to avoid and resolve this problem. Solutions stem from the ethical
imperative in clinical research, clear rules of engagement among research/authorship
teams, and effective governance within research institutions.
Key-words:
Authorship standards - authorship - collaboration - collegiality - conflict resolution
- editorial - mentoring - multidisciplinary research teams - publication ethics -
publishing - research ethics - research integrity - research misconduct - responsible
publication
