Scholarly Publishing

Determining who qualifies as an author - and what kind of contribution they made - is a critical part of scholarly publishing. Clear communication and ethical practices around authorship protect everyone involved.

An author is someone who has made a significant intellectual contribution to a scholarly work. In most disciplines, this includes:

• Contributing to the concept or design of the research
• Participating in data collection, analysis, or interpretation
• Drafting or revising the manuscript
• Approving the final version for submission

All authors should be able to take public responsibility for the content.

The CRediT Taxonomy (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) is an open standard of 14 item terms that allows for a standardized description of each author’s individual contribution to a manuscript.

Authorship order varies by discipline:

• In STEM fields, the first author is often the main contributor; the last author may be the senior researcher.
• In humanities, authors are often listed alphabetically unless roles are clarified elsewhere.
• Some journals allow equal contributions or shared first authorship - always note this clearly.

• Discuss authorship roles at the beginning of a project
• Revisit the conversation as work evolves
• Document agreements in writing (email or shared document)
• Follow your discipline's and journal's authorship guidelines
• Consider including a contribution statement in your manuscript (using the CRediT Taxonomy)