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A Systematic Review of Research on the Meaning, Ethics and Practices of Authorship across Scholarly Disciplines

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  • Ana Marušić
  • Lana Bošnjak
  • Ana Jerončić

Abstract

Background: The purpose of this systematic review was to evaluate evidence about authorship issues and provide synthesis of research on authorship across all research fields. Methods: We searched bibliographical databases to identify articles describing empirical quantitive or qualitative research from all scholarly fields on different aspects of authorship. Search was limited to original articles and reviews. Results: The final sample consisted of 123 articles reporting results from 118 studies. Most studies came for biomedical and health research fields and social sciences. Study design was usually a survey (53%) or descriptive study (27%); only 2 studies used randomized design. We identified four 4 general themes common to all research disciplines: authorship perceptions, definitions and practices, defining order of authors on the byline, ethical and unethical authorship practices, and authorship issues related to student/non-research personnel-supervisor collaboration. For 14 survey studies, a meta-analysis showed a pooled weighted average of 29% (95% CI 24% to 35%) researchers reporting their own or others' experience with misuse of authorship. Authorship misuse was reported more often by researcher outside of the USA and UK: 55% (95% CI 45% to 64%) for 4 studies in France, South Africa, India and Bangladesh vs. 23% (95% CI 18% to 28%) in USA/UK or international journal settings. Interpretation: High prevalence of authorship problems may have severe impact on the integrity of the research process, just as more serious forms of research misconduct. There is a need for more methodologically rigorous studies to understand the allocation of publication credit across research disciplines.

Suggested Citation

  • Ana Marušić & Lana Bošnjak & Ana Jerončić, 2011. "A Systematic Review of Research on the Meaning, Ethics and Practices of Authorship across Scholarly Disciplines," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 6(9), pages 1-1, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:plo:pone00:0023477
    DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0023477
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Timothy Kassis, 2017. "How do research faculty in the biosciences evaluate paper authorship criteria?," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 12(8), pages 1-10, August.

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