When in Rome- Conventions in Assignment of Authorship
Charles, a Ph.D. student at Bucket University, needed to gain expertise in certain techniques of biomolecular synthesis
in order to complete his dissertation. Since no one at his home
institution could provide instruction in this area, Charles
contacted a leading researcher at another school, Professor
Williams, and arranged an internship conducting collaborative
research at Williams' lab in Wonkaland. Wonkaland is a small
but wealthy with cultural traditions that highly prize group
harmony and mutual interdependence and de-emphasize
individuality. Charles was eager not only to learn about the
research methods and complexities of this area, but also to
develop connections and establish a relationship with this
noteworthy figure.
From the first day Charles arrived at Williams' lab, he had
been impressed. He had been given a warm reception by the other
members of the lab -- Augustus, Verruca, Mike, Violet and Umpa
-- and they seemed genuinely interested in his work. During
weekly lab meetings that lasted well into the night, the
researchers would discuss their work and describe problems that
had arisen, and then the various members of the lab would offer
suggestions. Some of the suggestions were helpful, and some
were not, but Charles felt he had learned a lot from these
sessions.
Charles was quite pleased with the progress of the research.
He and Williams had made some major breakthroughs and were on
the verge of submitting their first paper on the subject to a
medical journal for review. He had given a draft of the paper
to Williams, who was to review it over the weekend and make
changes and comments. When Charles arrived in the lab Monday
morning, he found the paper on his desk with the names of
Augustus, Verruca, Mike, Violet and Umpa added to the list of
authors. Surprised,Charles approached Williams in his office:
"Dr. Williams, I don't understand why these names were added to
the paper," Charles began, "when it was you and I who did all
the work."
Williams looked at him, puzzled, "How can you say that?
During the weeks we have been conducting our research, we
benefited greatly from the input of the other lab members.
Naturally, I have circulated copies of the paper to each person
for comment and approval. We will be discussing the paper at
this week's group meeting."
Seeing Charles' astonishment, Williams continued, "Of
course, Augustus is working on a draft of a paper about his
research project. Since you have contributed to his project,
you'll have an opportunity to review that paper, and it will
include your name when it goes out."
The journal to which Williams and Charles intend to submit
the paper requires contributors to conform to the "Uniform
Requirements of the International Committee of Medical Journal
Editors" (the Vancouver Convention). For authorship, the
Convention requires "substantial contributions to 1) conception
and design, or analysis and interpretation of data; and to 2)
drafting the article or revising it critically for important
intellectual content; and on 3) final approval of the version
to be published."
Charles decides to argue that the level of participation of
the other researchers is not enough to qualify for authorship
under these criteria. Williams insists that the contributions
made by the other researchers are enough to satisfy the
criteria. Moreover, Williams replies, these standards are based
upon distinctly Western notions of a scientist as an
independent entity. He continues, "Our culture sees the
scientist as interdependent within a larger group. Those around
the scientist contribute in valuable ways and without them he
or she could not function. We believe it is more appropriate to
recognize this reality."
Discussion Questions
- What ethical issues are raised by the authorship
arrangement? Should Charles consent?
- How substantial must a contribution be to satisfy the
uniform requirements? Do the contributions made by the others
in Williams' lab entitle them to an authorship credit?
- How might Western cultural norms and values have
influenced the formulation of the uniform requirements?