The purpose of this document is to communicate some general guidelines for authorship on scholarly publications arising out of research conducted at CVL. Although a wide range of possible circumstances will be covered, there will always be exceptions due to unique situations. In such cases, authorship issues will need to be mutually resolved among all of the participants. The Lab Director will be ultimately responsible for any final decisions.
BackgroundAuthorship on scholarly work is quite simply a reflection of intellectual input and scientific contributions made by a researcher. Most journals now have precise guidelines on the threshold that must be met in order to merit authorship on a research paper. The guidelines below have been adopted in large measure from this emerging standard, with some modifications to reflect our own research environment (e.g., the involvement of undergraduate honours students, multi-centre research collaborations, etc.). The key point to stress is that authorship is largely a measure of intellectual propriety and therefore there must always be clear, compelling, and continued contribution of intellectual input to the project. This is fleshed out in greater detail in subsequent sections below.
The standard format
All research projects at CVL begin with an initial collaboration between the Lab Director and a graduate student, postdoctoral fellow (PDF), or visiting scientist. This person is referred to as the Primary Scholar in the context of this research program. The Lab Director may propose an original idea for an experiment, though with emerging scientific maturation, especially among graduate students, it is expected that the scholar will assume this role to a greater degree. The scholar will conduct the research with ongoing discussions of scientific direction and implementation with the Lab Director, as needed.In the event that the experimental results merit publication in a scientific journal, an initial draft of the paper is first written up by the scholar and then edited jointly with the Lab Director before submission. The scholar will be the first author on the paper. The only exception to this rule will be in the unlikely event that the Lab Director is actually involved in data collection, analysis, and write-up to a greater degree than the Primary Scholar. In such cases, the exact contributions that the scholar will make on a project to merit second authorship will be clearly spelled out by the Lab Director and a joint research effort will be mounted after mutual agreement on the contributions of each.
There are certain situations where a research project would derive significant benefit through the inclusion of other CVL members as participants. The benefits may arise from the intellectual and experimental contributions that another member may make due to his/her particular background and research expertise. The twin factors of intellectual input and experimental contribution are both necessary for inclusion of that member as an author.
The intellectual contributions must be significant and reach a certain threshold in terms of: i) original conception, ii) continuing advocacy, and/or iii) help with analysis and interpretation. Any of these contributions must have a measurable impact on the research project. The intellectual contribution noted here, however, is alone not sufficient for authorship. There must also be direct experimental contribution in collaboration with the Primary Scholar, as discussed below. The reasoning behind this is simple. It is always expected that there will be a high degree of intellectual discourse in any research environment. The results of such interactions often form the foundation for many experiments and it is often the case that pivotal ideas are generated through such discussions. If a CVL member simply comes up with an idea for an experiment but does not contribute to subsequent research activity on that project, then this contribution does not rise to the threshold of authorship. Similarly, providing guidance and advice during the course of an experiment or with analysis and interpretation does not reach the authorship threshold. An interactive research environment must rely on frequent dialogue among multiple members and such interactions should not be based on a tacit belief that it will lead to automatic authorship on a research paper. However, it is expected that advice and assistance by a lab member will be acknowledged in the paper.
The additional factor needed for inclusion as an author is experimental contribution, which can take on many forms. A particular member may bring his or her expertise (e.g., in situ hybridization skills, advanced Matlab programming ability, specialized psychophysics training, etc.) to an experiment and therefore be responsible for a well-defined segment of the overall project. Any CVL member may participate in a project either by volunteering or by invitation from the Primary Scholar. The exact experimental contributions to be made by a lab member toward such a project must be explicitly outlined through discussion and agreement with the Primary Scholar. The Lab Director should then be notified of the collaborative nature of the project. It may even be the case that certain complex projects will involve several CVL members in this capacity. It is also expected that all participating lab members will at the minimum carefully review and edit the paper on which they are to be included as an author. The Primary Scholar will be the first author on the paper and the Lab Director will be the last author.
Guidelines for research assistantsResearch assistants are paid employees who work strictly under the supervision of a Primary Scholar or the Lab Director. As such, their contributions are mainly in the domain of experimental implementation rather than in the intellectual conception or guidance of the project. As such, research assistants are not included as authors on a paper. However, their efforts should be acknowledged. The only exception to this guideline is a situation where a research assistant truly makes a significant intellectual contribution (e.g., provides a new idea for an experiment or an important modification) that either produces a significant impact or in whose absence the experiment likely would not have been successful. In such circumstances, both the intellectual and executive contributions by the assistant may rise to the threshold of inclusion as an author. The Lab Director will make the decision in all such cases after evaluating the contributions made by the research assistant.
Guidelines for undergraduate trainees
All undergraduates in the honours research program will be supervised jointly by a Primary Scholar and the Lab Director. In general, the Primary Scholar for this purpose must be a PDF, visiting scientist, or a senior graduate student (i.e., third-year in the graduate program or above). A year-long project will be defined after discussion of the mutual research interests of both the student and Primary Scholar. A key objective will be to formulate an original research project that will be carried out by the honours student and which will form the basis for his/her undergraduate thesis. The Primary Scholar will oversee the day-to-day research activities to be carried out by the student. In many cases, the experiments conducted by the honours student will represent an auxiliary project that is conceptually linked to the Primary Scholar’s research program. In the event that the results of this project are of publishable importance, the Primary Scholar with assistance from the honour’s student will be responsible for preparing an initial draft of the paper. Final editing of the paper will be carried with the Lab Director prior to submission. The Primary Scholar will be the first author and the undergraduate student will be the second author on any such paper.
External collaborations
Collaborations with researchers from outside CVL may originate in two ways. The Lab Director may in consultation with a Primary Scholar (or vice versa) seek a collaborative arrangement with an outside researcher. Either the Primary Scholar or Lab Director may then set up the collaborative details. A natural expectation in any such arrangement is that the invited collaborator(s) will be included as co-authors on any published material arising from the research. The nature, extent, and details of the collaborative involvement and authorship expectations will be clearly established. It should also be made clear at the outset if the external collaborator will be seeking the help of other scientists within his/her organization who would also seek authorship on any published work. If so, then the nature and details of their contributions will need to be clearly established and agreed to in advance.
A second way that a collaborative arrangement can be initiated is by invitation from an external scientist. Typically, those arrangements are made through the Lab Director who may then discuss the research opportunity with a Primary Scholar. If the scholar is interested in participating in the project, then his/her role will be clearly defined, as will be the authorship expectation. In some cases, a Primary Scholar can be involved in a side-project with an outside researcher that has been separately initiated with the approval of the Lab Director. In such cases, the Lab Director is typically not involved either intellectually or in terms of execution and therefore there is no expectation for inclusion as an author. However, it is expected that any such collaborative arrangement will form only a minor part of the Primary Scholar’s overall research agenda.
Corresponding authorThe first author will serve as the corresponding author by default. The only exception to this rule will be those instances where a lab resource has been generated as a result of the study and which is being reported for the first time in that paper (e.g., development of an antibody, a genomic dataset, a new protocol, etc.). These materials remain the property of CVL. The Lab Director will serve as the corresponding author on such papers to ensure that any future requests for these materials can be met.
Abstract authorships
The same general guidelines as above apply for authorship on abstracts or other non-refereed published material. However, the threshold for both intellectual and executive contribution is somewhat lower than for journal submissions. For example, if a CVL member has made significant intellectual contribution in either conception or ongoing advice, then he/she may be included as a co-author on an abstract even in the absence of any direct research contribution. The Lab Director will have final authority on the inclusion of any lab members as an author in addition to the Primary scholar.
