Greta Sokoloff, PhD
Former Science Student Council Member
Indiana University, Bloomington
(This article was first published in the Winter 2002 issue of the APAGS
Newsletter.)
Authorship of a research article is not a trivial issue, for students or
professionals. Part of the difficulty in determining authorship lies in the
ambiguity of the guidelines that are available, leaving both the student and the
project’s primary investigator (PI) analyzing the situation
subjectively-sometimes from different ends of the spectrum. Because authorship
is a difficult issue to tackle and can create touchy situations, it is important
to be informed as a student and to take steps toward knowing where you stand
with respect to getting your name on a research article.
APA has developed general guidelines for making authorship decisions. As
stated in the "Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of
Conduct" Section 6.23 (APA, 1992), author credit must appropriately reflect
the contributions of individuals participating in the project, and students
should be listed as first author on publications stemming from theses and
dissertations (i.e., projects with the student as the PI). Student authorship is
less clear for projects where the PI is the student’s mentor or employer. Here
student contributions can range from minor (e.g. typing, data entry,
testing subjects, building equipment, etc.) to professional (e.g.,
writing a final draft of the to-be-submitted article). Whereas the latter
obviously merits authorship, minor contributions generally warrant a place in
the acknowledgments, and do not guarantee authorship. It is important to keep in
mind that a student’s contributions often do not neatly fall into one category
or the other. As a result, authorship is left to the discretion of the PI.
Although the APA manual suggests that primary and/or substantial contributions
and responsibility to a project are important in determining authorship (APA,
1994), often the difficult question becomes "What defines such
contributions?"
In many ways, the most important thing to keep in mind when considering
authorship is the series of steps that culminate in the written article.
Although these steps vary from project to project (which partially belies the
ambiguity in authorship guidelines), the process generally consists of
developing the concept and design, conducting research and data collection,
analyzing the data and interpreting the results, and writing (APA, 1994).
Primary involvement in any of these steps is considered a substantial
contribution. Theoretically, participation in any, and especially many, of the
aforementioned steps earns the student the right to authorship.
In addition to these guidelines, there are practical ways to assess how the
authorship game will be played when you are up to bat. First and foremost, try
to get an idea of the authorship policy of the PI. Because people vary on how
they make decisions about authorship, it is best to know what base you stand on
early, preferably before the project begins. Obviously, the most important thing
you can do is talk about issues of authorship with the PI. Don’t be afraid to
ask direct questions and want direct answers. Another useful heuristic is to
check the PI’s publication record to see if his or her former students are
often listed as authors. This would give you an idea of the PI’s general
policy towards student authorship, as would directly talking to these students.
Finally, remember that as the project is under way often the graduate student
knows who else has contributed and how much. Don’t be afraid to be involved in
the authorship process, especially if you are heading up the work. Although it
may seem intimidating (or even immodest to some) to discuss these things, just
remember how important authorship is. Authorship in many instances is how
others, outside your lab, school, or job, will know about your work, so don’t
be afraid to step up to bat and take a swing at it!
