Scientific authorship in CSP

In order to inform authors and readers, CSP uses this space to present its norms and policies regarding authorship of scientific articles.

Authorship of scientific publications can be discussed through many angles: criteria for attributing authorship, ethical and moral aspects, order of authorship, corresponding author, etc.

The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE; http://www.icmje.org) developed authorship criteria for Medicine and Health journals. These criteria help scientific editors to establish norms and policies for their publications. The ICMJE criteria ¹ are based on the following points: “(1) substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; (2) drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content; (3) final approval of the version to be published; (4) agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved”.

Authors are directly responsibly for drafting the actual article. Researchers who do not meet the four criteria cited above, having only contributed to data collection, interview transcription, data analysis, supervision of activities, administrative tasks, among others, should not be given authorship credit. Their names should be noted in the article’s acknowledgements, as recognition of their contribution to the development of the research on which the article is based. Thus, when preparing an article for submission to a scientific journal, one must pay attention to the ethical and moral aspects related to each individual’s participation in its production.

Another relevant point in this discussion is the order of authorship, whose rules vary in the many academic fields. While some attribute the responsibility for the work to the first author and the supervision or coordination of the research to the last, others adopt the alphabetical order to avoid conflicts between authors ². For CSP, order of authorship is the responsibility of authors themselves. They must reach a consensus and establish their own criteria.

In CSP, the corresponding author is the person responsible for submitting the article and will be the one the journal will contact during the editorial process. They are responsible for informing the other authors about all stages of evaluation, including the final result. In a sense, they are also responsible for adjusting the article to meet the journal’s norms and for ensuring that all information contained in the manuscript is preserved, is in accordance with the originals and is agreed upon by all authors ³. They must be available throughout the evaluation process and, in case of approval, for all subsequent stages. Additionally, they must meet all deadlines set by the Editorial Board ¹. After approval, they will receive the communication that the article was accepted and the proofs, as well as the statements that must be signed by all authors. During this stage, if necessary, they will be responsible for settling any formatting issues. They are the communication link between the CSP technical staff and the other authors and must be attentive to all demands and requests in order to prevent delays.

Lastly, due to demands from indexing databases, CSP will start to require that all authors be registered with ORCID (Open Researcher and Contributor ID), a non-proprietary digital identifier for the exclusive identification of scientists, researchers, academic authors and contributors. It is a non-profit organization supported by a global community of organizational members, including editors, research groups, funders, professional associations and other organizations interested in research. “ORCID provides a persistent digital identifier that distinguishes you from other researchers and, through integration in key research workflows such as manuscript and grant submission, supports automated linkages between you and your professional activities ensuring that your work is recognized” ⁴. The author must go to the site and follow the steps for registering with ORCID. The identifier will be your record and may be used for many purposes, such as publishing (avoiding homonymous authors), funding, etc.

We are aware of the specificities of each area when it comes to scientific authorship, but we seek a standardization and to value those who truly deserve the credits and merits of authoring a scientific article published in a journal with a wide circulation.

• ¹
  International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. Defining the role of authors and contributors. http://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/roles-and-responsibilities/defining-the-role-of-authors-and-contributors.html (acessado em 17/Ago/2018).
  » http://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/roles-and-responsibilities/defining-the-role-of-authors-and-contributors.html
• ²
  Marques F. Hierarquia complexa. Pesquisa FAPESP 2011; (184). http://revistapesquisa.fapesp.br/2011/06/19/hierarquia-complexa/ (acessado em 17/Ago/2018).
  » http://revistapesquisa.fapesp.br/2011/06/19/hierarquia-complexa/
• ³
  Nassi-Calò L. Critérios de autoria preservam a integridade na comunicação científica. SciELO em Perspectiva 2018. https://blog.scielo.org/blog/2018/03/14/criterios-de-autoria-preservam-a-integridade-na-comunicacao-cientifica/#.W3a1oxgnZCU (acessado em 17/Ago/2018).
  » https://blog.scielo.org/blog/2018/03/14/criterios-de-autoria-preservam-a-integridade-na-comunicacao-cientifica/#.W3a1oxgnZCU
• ⁴
  ORCID. Conectando pesquisas e pesquisadores. https://orcid.org/ (acessado em 17/Ago/2018).
  » https://orcid.org/

Publication Dates

• Publication in this collection
  08 Nov 2018
• Date of issue
  2018