誰有資格當作者？


提問

親愛的Dr. Eddy:
最近我將要進行第一次論文投稿，我是這篇研究的主要負責人，在這次的研究中，我們研究室的一位博士後前輩幫了我很多忙，他在許多關鍵的實驗上給我建議，甚至幫忙分析研究數據，我想把他的名字放進共同作者，但我的指導老師則是希望把一位與我們研究室有合作關係的人列入作者名單，這個研究用的Cell lines是他提供的，不過我不是很確定是否該將他放入作者名單裡，我想知道是不是有決定作者的標準可以參考。


答覆
署名權是一個備受爭議的問題，即使是資深的研究人員都不見得完全清楚。國際醫學期刊編輯委員會（International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, ICMJE）為作者定義提供了一套參考標準，希望幫助研究人員決定誰有資格列為作者，誰列在致謝章節裡就好。

作者定義：

• 在概念搜集、設計研究、採集數據或分析及解釋數據有明確貢獻
• 撰寫論文或在修改時改善重要的知識內容
• 批准最後要投稿的論文版本

現在大部分的生物醫學雜誌期刊要求作者需符合ICMJE的作者標準，甚至會要求每位作者具體貢獻清單。

以你的情況來看，這位資深的博士後前輩因為在這次的研究中提供實驗建議，同時幫助你分析數據，這些都是這個研究的重要知識貢獻，所以他可以列為共同作者，而那些只是提供技術幫助、實驗空間、試劑或幫忙寫論文的人不夠資格稱為作者；所以那位合作對象是不能夠放進作者裡的，不過他應該在論文裡的致謝章節裡受到應有的感謝。我建議你跟老師說一下ICMJE的作者標準，並跟老師說明若期刊編輯對作者名單的貢獻度有所質疑的話，可能會延遲發表進度。


如果您對作者署名還有其他疑問的話，請寄信至 我們可以更進一步討論。

延伸閱讀：如何處理署名權爭議。 Contributors

Who qualifies to be an author?

Question Description

Dear Dr. Eddy, I am going to submit my first paper for which I am the main contributor. During the course of this study, a senior post-doc in our lab helped me troubleshoot and suggested some key experiments. He even helped me analyze some data. I would like to include his name as a co-author on this paper. Also, my research advisor wants me to include the name of one of our collaborators who provided some cell lines that we used in this study, but I’m not sure about this. I would like to know whether there are any standard guidelines for deciding who should be considered an author.


Answer

Authorship is a much-disputed issue that even senior researchers are not entirely clear about. The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) has provided a set of guidelines meant to help researchers decide whether a contributor qualifies to be an author or should be just be included in the acknowledgements section of a manuscript. According to these guidelines, an author should have:

• substantially contributed to conception and design, acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data
• drafted the article or revised it critically for important intellectual content, and
• provided final approval of the version to be published.

Most biomedical journals now require authors to conform to ICMJE authorship guidelines and even ask for a detailed description of each author’s contribution.

In your case, the senior post-doc should be credited as a co-author because he has made significant intellectual contribution to your study by suggesting experiments and helping you analyze the data. However, contributors who only provide technical help, lab space, reagents, or writing assistance do not fulfill the authorship criteria and should not be included as authors. Thus, the contribution of your collaborator is not sufficient for him/her to be credited as an author; instead he/she should be duly thanked in the acknowledgements section of the manuscript. I would advise you to inform your advisor about the ICMJE guidelines. You could explain that your paper acceptance may be delayed if the journal editor is not convinced that all listed authors have contributed sufficiently.

Do you have any more queries regarding authorship? Mail them to

Contributors