- Today
- Holidays
- Birthdays
- Reminders
- Cities
- Atlanta
- Austin
- Baltimore
- Berwyn
- Beverly Hills
- Birmingham
- Boston
- Brooklyn
- Buffalo
- Charlotte
- Chicago
- Cincinnati
- Cleveland
- Columbus
- Dallas
- Denver
- Detroit
- Fort Worth
- Houston
- Indianapolis
- Knoxville
- Las Vegas
- Los Angeles
- Louisville
- Madison
- Memphis
- Miami
- Milwaukee
- Minneapolis
- Nashville
- New Orleans
- New York
- Omaha
- Orlando
- Philadelphia
- Phoenix
- Pittsburgh
- Portland
- Raleigh
- Richmond
- Rutherford
- Sacramento
- Salt Lake City
- San Antonio
- San Diego
- San Francisco
- San Jose
- Seattle
- Tampa
- Tucson
- Washington
Experts Propose Principles for Responsible Authorship in Science
New guidelines aim to address issues like gift authorship and ensure transparency, credit, and accountability.
Mar. 12, 2026 at 5:36am
Got story updates? Submit your updates here. ›
A multidisciplinary team of scholars, scientists, and journal editors have published a new article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences proposing a set of principles for responsible authorship in scientific publications. The article calls for authorship decisions to be anchored in transparency, credit, and accountability, and for a fair and robust process for conversations about authorship, including author order, and transparent descriptions of contributions.
Why it matters
Issues around scientific authorship, including gift authorship, ghost authorship, and coercive authorship, have long been a concern for the integrity of the research enterprise. The authors argue that a principle-based approach to authorship is needed to address these issues and ensure the trustworthiness of science.
The details
The article was authored by a working group that included researchers at different career stages, journal editors, representatives of research institutions, and scholars of authorship. The group found that while nearly all top-tier research institutions post authorship guidelines, only 42% explicitly associate authorship credit with accountability. The article recommends that authorship decisions be anchored in transparency, credit, and accountability, and that a fair and robust process for conversations about authorship, including author order, be established, with transparent descriptions of contributions.
- The article was published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on March 11, 2026.
The players
Véronique Kiermer
Chief scientific officer of PLOS, the Public Library of Science, and the lead author of the article.
Magdalena Skipper
Editor-in-chief of the journal Nature.
Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo
Editor-in-chief of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) and JAMA Network.
Kathleen Hall Jamieson
Director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center (APPC) of the University of Pennsylvania and professor of communication at Penn's Annenberg School for Communication.
Sofie Adams
APPC program coordinator who conducted research on authorship guidelines promulgated by nearly 150 top-tier U.S. research universities.
What they’re saying
“A responsible authorship culture requires a principle-based reflection by research teams on what it means to be an author with support and encouragement from research institutions. Accordingly, we propose three interconnected principles that form the foundation for responsible authorship: transparency, credit, and accountability.”
— Véronique Kiermer, Chief scientific officer of PLOS
“The way research is conducted is always evolving and authorship habits need to evolve accordingly. Only a principle-based approach can stand the test of time.”
— Véronique Kiermer, Chief scientific officer of PLOS
The takeaway
This proposal for a principle-based approach to scientific authorship aims to address longstanding issues around gift authorship, ghost authorship, and coercive authorship, in order to protect the integrity and trustworthiness of the research enterprise.
