Honorary authorship

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With honorary authorship (English honorary authorship , guest authorship or poison authorship ) refers to the nomination of a person as author , without that it has contributed a significant contribution to the publication. Usually it concerns a renowned scientist or the head of a university or research institute .

The term is mainly used in scientific publications , where it represents a misconduct, which is often a result of the increasing pressure to create a profile ( publish or perish ).

definition

The German Research Foundation (DFG) only designates the actual authors as those persons who have made a significant contribution to the conception of studies, to the development and analysis of data and to the formulation of the manuscript and who have agreed to its publication. If people are listed as authors even though they do not meet the above requirements, one speaks of an honorary authorship. Among other things, the acquisition of funding , the provision of materials or the management of the respective institution are in themselves not considered sufficient for an authorship.

causes

Although honorary authorship does not meet the scientific requirements, it is not uncommon. In almost all fields of science, with the exception of the humanities, the average number of authors per publication has increased. This is usually based on increasing collaborations. But it also tempts you to include other people in the list of authors in addition to the actual authors. In Germany , until recently, it was customary to list the head of a research institution or group in the list of authors regardless of his or her professional contribution. One of the main reasons is probably that the size of the list of publications is viewed as a measure of scientific success and thus as an advantage for the acquisition of research funds. In some cases, the respective doctoral degree regulations are used as a justification for the honorary authorship, since there often prior publication in scientific journals is only allowed with the approval of the doctoral supervisor. For inexperienced authors in particular, the inclusion of well-known people may be seen as helpful when reviewing a publication.

rating

The German Research Foundation, which provides a large part of the third-party funding in Germany, describes an honorary authorship as excluded and considers this to be incompatible with the guidelines of respected specialist journals. The former DFG President Ernst-Ludwig Winnacker described the honorary authorship as scientific misconduct and even compared it to shoplifting in a self-service shop. This view of honorary authorship is not limited to the German research landscape: the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, for example, describes honorary authorship as not permitted.

Internationally, too, scientific journals place similar requirements on authorship, e. B .:

  • AIAA Journal: To protect the integrity of authorship, only persons who have significantly contributed to the research and paper presentation should be listed as authors.
  • International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) requires substantial contributions , drafting the article or revising it and final approval of the version to be published .
  • Physical Review Letters : All of the authors made significant contributions to the concept, design, execution, or interpretation of the research study.
  • Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences : Authorship should be limited to those who have contributed substantially to the work.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b DFG: Suggestions for safeguarding good scientific practice , recommendation 12.
  2. ↑ DFG: Proposals for Safeguarding Good Scientific Practice , Section II.4.
  3. ^ H. Pearson: Credit where credit's due. Nature, Vol. 440, pp. 591-592, March 2006, doi : 10.1038 / 440591a .
  4. ↑ DFG: Suggestions for Safeguarding Good Scientific Practice , Recommendation 11.
  5. ↑ Prof. Dr. Ernst-Ludwig Winnacker: Report of the President of the German Research Foundation , Annual Meeting 2003, page 4, pdf ( Memento from October 18, 2006 in the Internet Archive ).
  6. ↑ ETH Zurich: Guidelines for Research Integrity (PDF file; 60 kB), Art. 14, 2007.
  7. ↑ American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics: Ethical Standards - Obligations of Authors ( Memento of May 4, 2008 in the Internet Archive ).
  8. ↑ ICMJE: Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals , Section II.A.
  9. ↑ Physical Review Letters: Editorial Policies and Practices .
  10. ^ Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences: Editorial Policies .

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