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Authorship Case 15: Shifting criteria for order of authorship |
Case 16 | Case 17 | Case 18 |
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Dr. Eee-the chairman of Dr. Eff's department-suggests that Eff "do a study" involving a tumor model that Eee discovered and has written about extensively. A student working with Eee has already done a thorough literature search on the subject. One of Eee's lab technicians teaches Eff the method. Eff works diligently during the next 2 years and finds new information worth publishing. She consults a staff statistician in the university's Biostatistics Division, analyzes the results with the statistician's help, and drafts the manuscript. (When designing her study, she had consulted with another staff statistician who had since retired from the Biostatistics Division.)
Before the paper is submitted, Eee realizes that he is going to need Gee's generous collaboration on one aspect of the study he's proposing in his grant application. After a little thought, he decides that Eff doesn't need to be first author on this paper. She has been working on several other projects-he will ask Eff to write them up and she can be first author on those. He tells his academic assistant to make Gee first author and Eff second author, and when the paper's done to forge his signature and send it to the journal. Eee leaves for a meeting that evening and, in his haste, neglects to tell Eff or Gee about the change. By the time he comes back, he's forgotten all about it. A few weeks later, Eee receives a letter saying that QBJ accepts the paper 'as is.' It is accompanied by the galley proofs and a copyright release form that offers the option of having all coauthors' signatures or, if that is inconvenient, only the signature of the 'senior' or 'corresponding' author-who in that case accepts accountability on behalf of all coauthors. Eee glances over the galleys, signs the copyright form on behalf of all authors, returns the package to QBJ, and writes an elated congratulatory note to Eff, Gee, and Em saying 'our paper is in press!'. Eee's academic assistant sends the note to Eff, Gee, and Em together with a copy of the copyright form. Unfortunately, for Eff to take her specialty Board exam she needs to be the primary author of a published article. Not having seen the manuscript draft submitted or the galley proofs, she did not know that her name was no longer first on the byline-nor did she notice the changes on the copyright form when she received it. She discovers the change when the paper is published. Eff contacts the QBJ editorial office, which confirms the order of authorship by faxing her a copy of the signed copyright release. Because of the change, Eff is not able to sit for her Board examination. When Eff contacts Gee (whom Eee had changed from second to first author), Gee says he was not aware of the change and that, as he recalled, Eff had written the paper. QUESTIONS:
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