Co-Authorship – University Research Office-Ateneo de Zamboanga University

CO-AUTHORSHIP GUIDELINES

For the Graduate Schools and the Colleges

This set of co-authorship guidelines is intended to provide the tertiary unit with direction when looking for related information or when assigning co-authorship credits. It is meant to give due credit and acknowledgement to those who substantially contributed to the accomplishment of a research project or work of a similar nature. It is further intended to provide direction when assigning authorship credits to non-first authors among mentors, advisers, senior and junior faculty members at undergraduate and graduate studies levels.

I. CO-AUTHORSHIP MAY BE ALLOWED IN THE FOLLOWING SITUATIONS:

A. A research grant is given/commissioned by the school.
• A member becomes a co-author of the junior/senior faculty member who is the principal researcher.
• Each team member in a multidisciplinary research project becomes a co-author.

B. A research project is undertaken to meet subject requirements (undergraduate or graduate courses).
• Each student or team member in a research project becomes a co-author.
• The instructor/mentor may be a co-author provided the conditions in number II will be met and after a written agreement is signed by the student(s), department chair and the dean.

C. A research project is undertaken not with the purpose of meeting subject requirements but the research involves a collaboration of students and faculty members (undergraduate or graduate courses)
• A mentor/instructor may become a co-author of the student who is the principal researcher.
• A student/students may become co-author(s) of the junior/senior faculty member who is the principal researcher.

D. A research project is a thesis/dissertation prepared for publication.
• With the written permission of a student, an adviser may collaborate with the principal researcher or graduating student and prepare the advisee’s thesis/dissertation for publication.
• The name of the principal researcher-student is to be stated first, followed by the adviser/mentor’s name.

II. CO-AUTHORSHIP CREDITS MAY BE ASSIGNED ONLY FOR SIGNIFICANT INTELLECTUAL CONTRIBUTION.

Co-authorship is determined based on the level of participation and should not influenced by payment or its absence for the consultant/mentor/adviser. It is negotiated on a case-to-case basis. Significant intellectual contribution may refer to substantial contribution related but not limited to the following:

• Conception and design, acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of the data
• Drafting of the article based on the research/thesis/dissertation or revising it critically for important intellectual detail
• Writes substantial sections of the paper or edits the final version of the manuscript
• Reviews, comments and approves the final version to be published.

Note: Conditions 2 and 3 apply to the situation when the researcher(s) desires to publish the work.

III. PRESENTATION OR PUBLICATION

A. In case a research is presented at a conference or published, any part essential to its main conclusions must be the responsibility of one of the co-authors.

B. In case the thesis/dissertation is to be presented by the adviser at a conference or seminar/workshop, the following applies.

• With the written permission of a student, an adviser may collaborate with the principal researcher, graduating student, and prepare advisee’s thesis/dissertation for a public presentation in the form of a seminar paper. The name of the principal researcher-student is to be stated first in the presentation or on the handout followed by the adviser/mentor’s name. Acknowledgement of the principal author should be made during the presentation, or stated in a publication.
• The mentor/adviser can only be a representative of the student and cannot claim co-authorship regardless of the volume of contribution.

IV. Every copy of the research paper should list all authors, in order, to prevent confusion or false expectation (to be negotiated on a case-to-case basis).

• The order of names can be determined alphabetically according to the initial letter of the last name or
• The principal researcher is listed first followed by the statistician;
• The name of the student is listed first followed by the name of the teacher;
• The name of the junior faculty member is listed first followed by the name of the mentor.

V. Institutional position, acquisition of funding, general supervision, and clerical or mechanical contributions do not constitute a substantial contribution.

All matters concerning the financial honorarium/award/any monetary incentives resulting from the publication or presentation of the research are not covered by this policy. The parties concerned should make a private agreement on the said matter.