Policies & Compliance

Research Related Regulations, Policies & Procedures

10.5 Authorship

Authorship is a primary mechanism for assigning responsibility and awarding credit for scholarly and intellectual contributions. Decisions about authorship carry significant implications for individual reputations, academic advancement, funding opportunities, and the overall credibility of the research enterprise and the institution.

Clear, fair, and transparent authorship practices are therefore essential to maintaining the integrity of research and scholarly communication.

10.5.1 Authorship Determinations

As emphasized by the U.S. Office of Research Integrity, “Attribution of credit and responsibility is central to the structure of science.” Consistent with this principle, Principal Investigators (PIs) and research teams are responsible for determining authorship and author order for scholarly outputs, including manuscripts, white papers, reports, and other research products.

Authorship decisions should be discussed openly and early in the research process and revisited as projects evolve. Teams should adhere to discipline-specific norms and professional standards when evaluating contributions and determining whether an individual qualifies for authorship and in what roles.

PIs are encouraged to establish clear expectations regarding:

criteria for authorship;
roles and responsibilities related to authorship;
acknowledgment of non-author contributors; and
processes for resolving authorship questions or disputes.

This handbook provides general guidance to support responsible authorship practices; however, investigators should also consult applicable disciplinary guidelines, sponsor expectations, and University research-integrity policies as appropriate.

Office of Sponsored Projects

VP for Research