Abstract
Ethical considerations arise when individuals who were contracted and paid to conduct a research study and write it up for publication, are denied authorship on a scholarly publication on the grounds that their work was contracted and paid for. Each of the various stakeholders should be considered. Researchers need to make sure that the contract recognizes their intellectual contribution and their right to be named as authors if and when the contracted study is published. If authorship disputes of published works arise, journal editors should have mechanisms in place for addressing such disputes. They should be able to see the contract and have all disputing parties agree to any changes in authorship. If the dispute cannot be resolved, the manuscript should be retracted. Contractors should develop a publication plan and include in the contract stipulations ensuring transparent and unambiguous authorship on any publication ensuing from contracted work. The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors and the Committee for Publication Ethics should update their guidance for authors to include advice regarding researchers involved in contracted work and how to resolve an authorship disputes around it.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
References
Al-Adawi, S., Ali, B. H., & Al-Zakwani, I. (2016). Research misconduct: The peril of publish or perish. Oman Medical Journal,31(1), 5–11. https://doi.org/10.5001/omj.2016.02.
Anekwe, T. D. (2010). Profits and plagiarism: The case of medical ghostwriting. Bioethics,24(6), 267–272. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8519.2008.00705.x.
Baethge, C. (2008). Publish together or perish: the increasing number of authors per article in academic journals is the consequence of a changing scientific culture. Some researchers define authorship quite loosely. Dtsch Arztebl International,105(20), 380–383. https://doi.org/10.3238/arztebl.2008.0380.
Battisti, W. P., Wager, E., Baltzer, L., Bridges, D., Cairns, A., Carswell, C. I., et al. (2015). Good publication practice for communicating company-sponsored medical research: GPP3. Annals of Internal Medicine,163(6), 461–464. https://doi.org/10.7326/M15-0288.
COPE. (2019). Committee on publication ethics. Retrieved August 1, 2019. https://publicationethics.org/.
Gotzsche, P. C., Hrobjartsson, A., Johansen, H. K., Haahr, M. T., Altman, D. G., & Chan, A. W. (2007). Ghost authorship in industry-initiated randomised trials. PLoS Medicine,4(1), e19. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.0040019.
ICMJE. (2019). International committee of medical journal editors. Defining the role of authors and contributors. Retrieved August 1, 2019. http://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/roles-and-responsibilities/defining-the-role-of-authors-and-contributors.html.
Jacobs, A., & Wager, E. (2005). European Medical Writers Association (EMWA) guidelines on the role of medical writers in developing peer-reviewed publications. Current Medical Research and Opinion,21(2), 317–322. https://doi.org/10.1185/030079905X25578.
Marusic, A., Wager, E., Utrobicic, A., Rothstein, H. R., & Sambunjak, D. (2016). Interventions to prevent misconduct and promote integrity in research and publication. Cochrane Database System Review,4, 38. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.mr000038.pub2.
Wager, E. (2006). Committee of publication ethics. Changes in authorship. Request for addition of extra author after publication. Retrieved August 1, 2019. https://publicationethics.org/files/Authorship%20C.pdf.
Wager, E. (2009). Recognition, reward and responsibility: Why the authorship of scientific papers matters. Maturitas,62(2), 109–112. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.maturitas.2008.12.001.
Acknowledgements
We are grateful to Prof. Elizabeth Wager for providing input about procedures that should be followed in a situation described in this manuscript and for valuable help with preparation of the manuscript. We are also very grateful to anonymous reviewers, as well as to the editor Prof. Stephanie J. Bird, for providing multiple suggestions that have improved this manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Puljak, L., Sambunjak, D. Can Authorship be Denied for Contract Work?. Sci Eng Ethics 26, 1031–1037 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-019-00173-5
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11948-019-00173-5