Research Integrity Spotlight

Authorship - What? Why? How?

Authorship involves recognising those who have听made significant contributions to a piece of听research. Part of the authorship process involves听determining whether the people who听contributed to the research meet the criteria for听authorship (or perhaps, an acknowledgement).


It is important to ensure that people who meet听the minimum criteria are included as an author,听just as much as those who do not meet the听criteria are not included. Aside from being the
right thing to do, ensuring correct authorship听helps to maintain the integrity, transparency,听and high standards of research that we all know听and love.

Rohan ATTA system

To be considered an author at the University of听米兰电子, you must have made a significant听scholarly intellectual contribution to the听research based on at least two of the following听five criteria:

  • Conception (or the design of the project)
  • Acquiring data (when it requires significant听intellectual judgement/input)
  • Knowledge (including Indigenous听knowledge)
  • Analysis (and/or interpretation of data)
  • Drafting (or revision of significant parts of听the research output)

If you鈥檙e so inclined, the Authorship Policy can听be found here.

  • Gift Authorship

    Gift authorship, ghost authorship, guest authorship, or honorary authorship (however you want to refer to it) may sound like a good thing, but it goes against the principles of authorship, is dishonest, and could lead to a breach of policy. In other words, it鈥檚 not great. But what is it?

    Authorship should not be offered purely because someone:

    • holds a position of authority
    • facilitated acquiring funding/resources/materials
    • provided routine tech support/advice but no other input to the research project

  • Authorship Declaration

    University policy states that anyone who qualifies as an author must be included or excluded with their written consent. Although there is no stipulation of how that record should be kept, it is serendipitous that the University has their very own

    Although it鈥檚 not mandatory to use this particular form, it easily highlights the contributions of each author, automatically sends confirmation emails to all parties, and keeps a simple record that is stored on the University servers (meaning, you can鈥檛 lose it!). Everybody wins.

Any queries about this Spotlight can be directed to Research Integrity (researchintegrity@adelaide.edu.au)听

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Responsible research is encouraged and guided by the research culture of the University of 米兰电子.

This ranges from general research practices, managing and storing data, ensuring all research is ethical while understanding principles of intellectual property, and authorship. Detailed information on responsible research can be found in the Research Student Handbook. The following link will connect you to resources to ensure that you will need during your time as a research student.

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