Authorship and Publication of Scholarly Work

SUBJECT:

Authorship and Publication of Scholarly Work

 Effective Date:
August 1, 2025		 Policy Number:
10.1.7
  Supersedes:
New		 Page 1 of 5
  Responsible Authorities:
Vice President for Research

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Florida Atlantic University (FAU) researchers publish extensively in academic and professional journals, which are the primary means of documenting for the scientific record the objectives, methods, findings, and conclusions of FAU research projects and other scholarly activities.

Authorship of these publications is an explicit way of assigning responsibility and giving credit for intellectual work and must honestly reflect actual contributions to the final product. Authorship is important to the reputation, promotion, and grant support of the individuals involved as well as to FAU’s overall reputation and impact. Authorship is a perennially contentious issue in science, and researchers are consistently faced with questions about who warrants authorship, in what order authors should be listed, and how other contributions should be acknowledged. It is imperative to scientific integrity that authorship is awarded appropriately.

Therefore, this policy, consistent with internationally recognized standards (International Committee of Medical Journal Editors; Committee on Publication Ethics; National Institutes of Health), is intended to outline the criteria for earning authorship, establishing the authorship order, and acknowledging contributions that do not warrant authorship. In addition, this policy provides guidance to assist in resolving authorship disputes.

APPLICABILITY

This policy applies to all FAU personnel who publish scientific or scholarly work conducted as part of their official duties. The policy does not apply to the creation and dissemination of policies and procedures, strategic communications, or other official publications of FAU, including but not limited to social media, interviews, or other promotional appearances.

POLICY STATEMENT

Authorship. An individual is an author of a scientific or scholarly work if and only if they meet both of the following criteria:

  1. The individual has made a substantial contribution to the scientific or scholarly content of the work, such as by contributing substantially either to the conception, design, or scholarship essential for the work, or to the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; AND
  2. The individual has participated in drafting the work, or significant portions of the work, or critically reviewed or revised the scientific or scholarly content of the work.

Only individuals who satisfy the criteria of authorship for a scientific or scholarly work may be credited as authors of that work. This prohibits assigning authorship credit solely on the basis of seniority, acquisition of funding, provision of access to participants, or provision of specimens, data, facilities, materials, or other resources, unless agreed upon and established in advance. All individuals who satisfy the criteria of authorship for a scientific or scholarly work must be credited as authors of that work.

The use of artificial intelligence (AI) assisted technology such as Large Language Models (LLM) in the production of work should be limited and disclosed. AI or Chatbots (such as Chat GPT) should not be included as an author in any publication because they cannot be responsible for the accuracy, integrity, and originality of the work, and these responsibilities are required for authorship (ICMJE). Authors should be able to assert that there is no plagiarism in their paper, including in text and images produced by the AI. Authors are expected to follow publisher and journal editorial policies related to the use of AI generated material in publications. See Guidance D: Disclosure of AI in Publications.

DEFINITIONS

Author: An individual who satisfies both criteria specified in this policy for authorship of a scientific or scholarly work.

Credit: Acknowledgment of a named individual’s substantial contributions and/or authorship of a scientific or scholarly work that is included in the published or publicly disseminated version of that work.

FAU personnel: All faculty, students, staff, contractors, guest researchers, volunteers, fellows, and trainees of FAU who may conduct research or disseminate findings of research conducted under the auspices of FAU.

Plagiarism: The appropriation of another person’s ideas, processes, results, or words without giving appropriate credit. Refer to FAU Policy 10.1.1, “Research Misconduct” for more information about identifying and reporting plagiarism and other forms of research misconduct.

Publication: The issuing of a work in a journal, book, periodical or other formal venue for communication to the public and inclusion in the public record.

Public dissemination: The issuing of a work in an informal venue for communication to the public and inclusion in the public record, such as a popular website, open-access database or press release.

Scientific or scholarly work: Creative activity that is (i) aimed at the discovery of new knowledge, integration of knowledge leading to new understanding, or development of new technologies, methods, materials or uses and (ii) potentially appropriate for publication in a peer-reviewed academic venue.

PROCEDURES

Given the importance of authorship for professional development and career advancement, serious consideration should be given to the fair distribution of opportunities for authorship. In most cases, individuals who satisfy the first criterion for authorship (i.e., those who made a substantial contribution to the scientific or scholarly content of the work) should have a fair opportunity to satisfy the second criterion by participating in drafting or critically reviewing/revising the work’s scientific or scholarly content within a reasonable period of time.

Appropriate credit should be given for important contributions made to scientific or scholarly work, even when the individuals who make those contributions do not meet the criteria for authorship. It is the collective responsibility of the authors, not the journal to which the work is submitted, to determine that all people named as authors meet all criteria. However, some larger scale projects may opt to use group authors such as “Project Working Group”. Usually, named individual authors who accept responsibility for the article should be listed as coauthors alongside the group author in the authorship byline. Credit is usually given in an acknowledgment statement in the publication or in an appendix in supplementary material, or by attributing group authorship. See Guidance A: Assigning Credit for Contributions.

Personnel who join or leave FAU during the course of a scientific or scholarly project should be given appropriate credit for their contributions to the work as well as fair opportunity to meet the criteria for authorship outlined in this policy. FAU personnel who are involved in preparing publications from such a project should consider the intellectual contributions, time and effort invested by individuals who are no longer affiliated with FAU in earlier stages, as well as those who may have joined mid-project. For a description of one approach to tracking individuals’ contributions to a scientific or scholarly work over time, see Guidance B: Publication Coordinator Role.

Appropriate methods for determining order of authorship vary among academic disciplines and publication venues. The criteria used to determine the order in which authors are listed should be decided collectively by the author group. Authors should follow the standards most relevant to the scientific or scholarly work and should engage in discussions about order of authorship in the early stages of a work’s development and as needed in later stages, particularly if individual contributions change over time. Some disciplines identify a senior author by listing their name last in the list of authors. A senior author is usually a senior member of the project team who served as the driving force behind the concept, organized the project, and provided guidance throughout execution of the project. A senior author may be the head of a research group, laboratory, or department under which the project was conducted, and/or the mentor or advisor to students or more junior scientists with a more direct role in executing the project. See Guidance C: Sample Authorship Plan.

There are various practices of assigning authorship credit for scientific or scholarly publications that are inconsistent with FAU policy and widely accepted standards of research ethics and integrity. The following includes examples of such prohibited practices:

  1. Forged authorship: Assigning authorship credit to an individual who was not involved in producing the work to promote the work’s publication or prestige, where this is done without the individual’s knowledge or permission.
  2. Ghost authorship: Failing to assign authorship credit to an individual who meets the criteria for authorship (i.e., making a substantial contribution and participating in drafting or critically revising the work) to hide the individual’s involvement in the work from editors, reviewers, or readers.
  3. Gift authorship: Assigning authorship to an individual who does not meet the criteria for authorship but is given credit in the hope that they will return the favor at some point in the future.
  4. Guest authorship: Assigning authorship credit to an individual with a prominent scientific or scholarly reputation who was not involved in producing the work to promote the work’s publication or prestige.
  5. Honorary authorship: Assigning authorship credit to an individual who does not meet the criteria for authorship but is given credit because they occupy a senior position or provided funding or other resources for the work.
  6. Orphan authorship: Failing to assign authorship credit to an individual who meets the criteria for authorship.

Dispute Resolution. Authorship disputes or collaboration disagreements do not constitute research misconduct per Policy 10.1.1. If disputes about assigning credit for authors or contributors or about determining order of authorship occur, the following mitigating steps can be taken:

  1. Direct Dialogue. The parties to the dispute discuss their perspectives with each other and work to reach a mutually acceptable resolution consistent with the terms of this policy and best practices for authorship.
  2. Consultation/Mediation. One or more parties to the dispute request consultation from an independent part such as Department Chair, leader not party to the dispute, or a science ombudsperson. Depending on circumstances and need, the individuals consulted may facilitate a confidential mediation process to assist the parties with resolving the dispute.
  3. Peer Panel. If the dispute cannot be resolved through direct dialogue, consultation, or mediation, the parties may agree to present their dispute to a panel of three scientific experts in the work’s area of research, which would decide how to resolve the dispute. This panel should be in consultation with the disputing parties’ leadership (Department Chair, College Associate Dean for Research, College Dea, etc.). All parties to the dispute must agree beforehand that they will accept the panel’s ultimate decision. Panelists may be drawn from FAU personnel or other relevant scientific institutions, and they must have no conflicting or competing interests related to the work.

Leader Determination. If the dispute cannot be resolved through direct dialogue, consultation, or mediation, and the parties do not agree to resolve the dispute with a peer panel, the matter may be referred to the College Dean for resolution.

ACCOUNTABILITY

Author Responsibilities. In addition to meeting the criteria for authorship stated above, FAU personnel who participate as an author of a scientific or scholarly work must:

  1. Approve the version of the work to be published or publicly disseminated, as well as any significant revisions undertaken in the peer review process;
  2. Be accountable for their own contributions to the work;
  3. Have confidence in the accuracy and integrity of their co-authors’ contributions to the work; and
  4. Declare any relevant conflicting or competing interests related to the work, understood as financial, professional or personal commitments that may compromise or have the appearance of compromising an author’s professional judgment.

Personnel who participate as an author of a scientific or scholarly work are responsible for:

  1. Initiating timely discussions about authorship (including order of authorship) and other contributions, both in the early stages of a work’s development and as needed in later stages, particularly if individual contributions change over time;
  2. Keeping track of individuals who make substantial contributions to the work over the course of the research lifecycle so that appropriate credit (whether authorship or acknowledgment) is given for those contributions, including contributions made by individuals who are no longer affiliated with FAU; and
  3. Being able to identify the contributions of each of the co-authors to the work presented in the final publication.

POLICY RENEWAL: As needed.

REFERENCES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Office of the Associate Director for Science (Authorship Policy)
Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)
Council of Science Editors: Recommendations for Group Authorship in Scientific Journals
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Scientific Integrity Committee (Scientific Integrity: Best Practices for Designating Authorship)
International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) (Recommendations for the Conduct. Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals)
National Institutes of Health (NIH), Office of the Director (Guidelines and Policies for the Conduct of Research in the Intramural Research Program at NIH)
NIH Office of Intramural Research (Processes for Authorship Dispute Resolution)

POLICY APPROVAL

Initiating Authority

Gregg Fields, Ph.D., Vice President for Research

Executed signature pages are available in the Initiating Authority Office