Stephen Covey, the well-known author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, suggests that if you want to be effective at anything in life, you should have a clear understanding of where you are headed. To do that, Covey suggests to "begin with the end in mind."1(p123) What does this quote have to do with authorship? Authorship should be a topic of discussion at the start of any scholarly project, yet all too often, no one thinks about authorship until the dissemination phase.
If you are currently involved in a scholarly project, you may already be thinking about publishing. Often, the project lead is the first person to think about publication and may self-identify as the first or lead author. In other scenarios, a member of the project team may take the lead to initiate publication. The following information may provide an essential guide to early discussions about authorship.
BEFORE YOU WRITE
Before deciding about potential authors, become familiar with the criteria for authorship. Most scholarly publications require authors to adhere to criteria set forth by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE)2 and Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).3
The ICMJE2 provides clear definitions for the role of authors and contributors. Their recommendations for authorship are based on the following 4 criteria:
Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work, or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work
Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content
Final approval of the version to be published
Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved
The Committee on Publication Ethics provides best practices and guidance about ethical practices for publication. They provide numerous resources that are valuable for authors to review, with additional resources available for members.3
BEGIN WITH THE END IN MIND
Covey's quote to "begin with the end in mind" leads to the first step, which is to clarify the roles of team members. These next steps will help you to make thoughtful decisions about authorship before the writing begins.
Step 1: Develop a Written Project Charter or Proposal for Any New Initiative
Project charters or proposals are structured documents that guide the key project/study steps, from identifying the team and project sponsor, to clarifying the research/practice question, summarizing evidence, identifying outcomes, and defining interventions. Two important components on this structured document relevant to authorship are the team members and the project sponsor. The team members may change over the course of the project, but chances are they may be part of your future writing team.
Identifying a project sponsor is important to ensure that projects are aligned with strategic goals and to confirm key leadership support when you need to provide a letter of permission from the organization to publish your work. This step in the prepublication process may also help you determine whether the components of the proposal and your work align with guidelines provided by journals for structuring a manuscript.
This is the key takeaway: if you take the time at the beginning of a project to do this work, you will be well on your way to the first draft of a manuscript when the project is finished.
Step 2: Identify Potential Authors or Contributors
First, consider who has made significant contributions to the project. Who were the team members and the sponsor? Do they meet the criteria for authorship recommended by the ICMJE2 and COPE3? During the writing phase, will these individuals play a key role in the development, review, and editing of the manuscript? For some writing teams, decisions about who will be first author, coauthor/s, senior author, corresponding author, and/or a contributor may be easy to make. For other teams, it is a more challenging process. Remember that team members who do not qualify as authors but contribute to or support the work may be acknowledged as a contributor in the final publication.
This is the key takeaway: become familiar with, and adhere to, the ICMJE2 and COPE3 guidelines.
Step 3: Clarify Authors' Roles and Responsibilities
Once authorship decisions are made, the next recommendation is to clarify the roles and responsibilities for authors. The best way to do this is in a written document that is shared with the writing team. This detailed document should list individual authors with their credentials and ORCID ID,4 clarify authorship roles (ie, first/lead author, coauthors, senior author, corresponding author), and define individual contributions. Contributions may range from project conceptualization to design and implementation of the intervention, providing essential technological support, conducting data analysis, and through the writing, editing, review, and submission process.2,3,5-9
One important, but often overlooked, role is that of the corresponding author. This individual has overall responsibility for ensuring that the manuscript adheres to journal requirements and ensures that all authors provide edits and permissions, sign copyrights, and so forth. This is the only person who will receive correspondence from the editorial office.9 This includes all aspects of submission responsibilities, receiving of decision letters, communication with peer reviewer comments, and recommendations for revisions. Most importantly, the corresponding author must share these communications and deadlines with all authors, including approval of final proofs.
For small writing teams, it may make more sense to develop a detailed document collaboratively; in larger groups, the first and second authors may decide to take the lead identifying roles that potential authors then confirm or edit in step 4.
There are many templates available electronically to help guide you through this process. One resource is the JAMA Network Journals Authorship Form, which introduced an initiative called Contributor Roles Taxonomy.7 This format provides an example of an authorship form, as well as definitions to distinguish various author roles and nonauthor collaborators, and addresses changes in authorship as well as resolving disagreements among authors. Writing teams may want to adapt this form to develop a template that is specific to their project. An example of an adapted form is the Authorship Roles and Responsibilities form developed specifically for a recent writing project, which helped to clarify and define author contributions (Author Statement & Contributions template, Supplemental Digital Content 1, http://links.lww.com/DCCN/A127). This document then sets the stage for the development of a detailed timeline with appropriate distribution of writing work to complete the manuscript.
This is the key takeaway: develop a written document that clearly defines the roles, order of authorship, and contributions from individual authors.
Step 4: Secure Author Agreement
Once you identify potential authors, it is still important to secure a firm written commitment. One strategy is to send a formal email invitation to potential authors with a written document listing potential authors, order of authorship, and individual responsibilities (Authorship email invitation template, Supplemental Digital Content 2, http://links.lww.com/DCCN/A128). Authors are expected to respond to confirm their willingness to be an author and their agreement about their contributions. If they are unable to meet expected contributions, it should be stated in the email that they will be listed in the acknowledgment section rather than as an author.
This is the key takeaway: secure a formal, written commitment from authors.
In closing, publishing a manuscript is an important professional accomplishment and tangible evidence of the investment you and your writing team will make to advance the profession of nursing. Before you begin, take the time to ensure that decisions about authorship are fair, accurate, and truthful. These agreements are guided by the principle defined by the World Association of Medical Editors that only an individual who has made substantial intellectual contributions should be an author.10
Helpful Resources:
1. Wiley Author Services: Best Practice Guidelines on Research Integrity and Publishing Ethics. https://authorservices.wiley.com/ethics-guidelines/index.html#5
2. Wolters Kluwer: Lippincott author talk! A free quarterly publication for authors. https://www.wolterskluwer.com/en/solutions/lippincott-journals/author-resources/
3. Wolters Kluwer: Lippincott Journals: Author Resources. Provides numerous resources and tools for authors. https://www.wolterskluwer.com/en/solutions/lippincott-journals/author-resources
Helene Bowen Brady
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