Policies

Authorship on Scientific and Scholarly Publications

General Statement of Purpose
The purpose of this policy is to establish the minimum requirements of authorship in scientific and scholarly publications.

Policy
All individuals are required to meet the criteria of authorship for scientific and scholarly publications outlined herein. All individuals who contributed to the project and who meet the criteria for authorship should be appropriately included as an author. Ghostwriting, guest authorships, and gift authorship are prohibited.

Scope
This policy applies to faculty and students of the Zucker School of Medicine conducting research on behalf of the Zucker School of Medicine or at any Northwell Health facility and all members of the Northwell Health workforce including, but not limited to, employees, medical staff, volunteers, students, physician office staff, and other persons performing work for or at Northwell Health.

Definitions
Acknowledgments include individuals who may have made some contribution to a publication, but who do not meet the criteria for authorship, such as staff, editorial assistants, medical writers, or other individuals who provide a valuable contribution to the writing and editing of publications. An administrative relationship, acquisition of funding, collection of data, or general supervision of a research group alone does not constitute authorship.

Author is an individual who has made substantial intellectual contributions to a scientific investigation. There can be more than one author per publication, also referred to as co-authors.

First author is the person who did the majority of the work for the research and usually wrote the first draft of the publication.

Guest (honorary, courtesy, or prestige) authorship is defined as granting authorship out of appreciation or respect for an individual, or in the belief that expert standing of the guest will increase the likelihood of publication, credibility, or status of the work.

Gift authorship is credit, offered from a sense of obligation, tribute, or dependence, within the context of an anticipated benefit, to an individual who has not contributed to the work.

Ghost authorship/Ghostwriting is the failure to identify as an author, someone who made substantial contributions to the research or writing of a publication that merited authorship, or an unnamed individual who participated in writing the publication. Ghost authorship may range from authors for hire with the understanding that they will not be credited, to major contributors not named as an author.

The Senior Author, who is normally the last author on biomedical research journals, is the individual who assumes overall responsibility such as directing, overseeing, and guaranteeing the authenticity, accuracy, and validity of the research and research data.

Publication or Scientific and Scholarly Publication refers to articles, abstracts, and presentations at professional meetings related to research. Publications provide the main vehicle to disseminate findings, thoughts, and analysis to the scientific, academic, and lay communities.

Procedures and Guidelines
Author Responsibilities
All authors should meet the following criteria, and all those who meet these criteria should be authors:

1. Contribute significantly to the conception or design of the research; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of the data for the research;
2. Participate in drafting or critically revising the publication for important intellectual content;
3. Participate sufficiently in the publication to take public responsibility for appropriate portions of the content; and
4. Provide final approval of the version to be published.

For publications that are reviews or commentaries not based in original research, authorship credit is based on criteria 2, 3, and 4 above. Providing funding for the research does not meet the criteria of being named as an author.

It is the collective responsibility of all the authors of each publication to determine that all people named as authors meet the criteria for authorship. In addition to being accountable for the parts of the work he or she has done, an author should be able to identify which co-authors are responsible for other specific parts of the work.

The lead and senior authors are responsible for:

1. Including as co-authors all and only those individuals who meet the authorship criteria.
2. Providing the draft of the publication to each individual contributing author for review and consent for authorship. The lead author should obtain from all coauthors and acknowledgements their agreement to be designated as such and the approval of coauthors on the final draft of the publication. A journal may have specific requirements governing author review and consent, which must be followed.
3. Ensuring the integrity of the work as a whole, including taking reasonable care and effort to determine that all the data are complete, accurate, and reasonably interpreted.

If publication has shared lead or senior authors, all authors sharing in a role are equally responsible for their respective responsibilities.

All co-authors of a publication are responsible for:

1. Acknowledgement of meeting authorship criteria.
2. Acknowledgement of reviewing and approving the publication.
3. Providing the content of all appropriate portions of the publication, including the integrity of any applicable research.

An individual retains the right to refuse co-authorship of a publication if s/he does not satisfy the criteria for authorship.

Authorship Order
The order of authors is a collective decision. In conjunction with the lead and senior authors, co-authors should discuss authorship order at the onset of the project and revise their decision as needed. Typically, the individual who did the majority of the research, and wrote most of the first draft of the manuscript is the first author. The senior author, the individual who directed and oversaw the research and takes primary responsibility for assuring the accuracy of the work, is typically the last author. All other co-authors who contributed are listed in the order of the level of their contribution.

Acknowledgments
Those individuals who do not meet the criteria for authorship can be listed in an acknowledgement section of the publication. All persons should give permission to be acknowledged.

Authorship Disputes
Members of the scientific team should resolve any disagreements concerning authorship as quickly and amicably as possible among themselves, in order to avoid ongoing disputes that could impede or prevent publication. Resolution of authorship credit or authorship order disputes that do not represent a violation of this policy must be resolved at the Department/Center level. In cases that cannot be resolved, the senior author, in consultation with the Department Chair/Center Head, will have the final authority to resolve the dispute. If the senior author is included in the dispute, the final authority will be the Department Chair/Center Head. The Department Chair/Center Head should be impartial and not be involved in the research and therefore should not be listed as an author. Disputes involving the Department Chair/Center Head who is involved in the research should be brought to the Chief Scientific Officer for resolution.

Disclosure of Funding
All authors must disclose the source(s) of funding for the research in the publication. Support includes research and educational grants, contracts, gifts, awards, and other applicable external support.

Conflicts of Interest
Authors should fully disclose, in all publications to journals, grant applications, and at professional meetings, all relevant financial interests (such as employment, consultancies, stock ownership or options, honoraria, patents, and paid expert testimony) that could be viewed as a potential conflict of interest or as required by a journal. All such financial interests must also be reported as required by NSLIJHS Policy GR065 Review and Management of Conflict of Interest in Research (Individual) and NSLIJHS Policy 800.03 Conflicts of Interest and Recusal.

Additional Requirements
Many journals may have additional requirements related to authorship. An author must comply with both the authorship requirements of the journal to which a publication is submitted and to the requirements of the Health System as set forth in this policy.

Auditing and Monitoring
The Office of Research Compliance or Internal Audit may conduct periodic routine and for cause monitoring. It is the responsibility of all employees to conduct themselves in compliance with this policy. Employees may report incidents of non-compliance via the Corporate Compliance Help Line 1-800-894-3226 or by web-based reporting at www.northshore-lij.ethicspoint.com.

Non-compliance with this policy may lead to disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment.

REFERENCES to REGULATIONS and/or OTHER RELATED POLICIES

International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE): Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals (version December 2013)

NSLIJHS Policy GR065 Review and Management of Conflict of Interest in Research (Individual)

NSLIJHS Policy 800.04 Gifts and Interactions with Industry

NSLIJHS Policy 800.03 Conflicts of Interest and Recusal

Last Revised: 1/2015