Multiple co-first authors, co-corresponding authors and co-supervisors: a synthesis of shared authorship credit
ISSN: 1468-4527
Article publication date: 26 March 2021
Issue publication date: 14 October 2021
Abstract
Purpose
Authorship is the ultimate status of intellectual recognition in academic publishing. Although fairly robust guidelines have already been in place for a considerable amount of time regarding authorship criteria and credit, such as those by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors or Contributor Roles Taxonomy, the lack of reliable verification techniques hamper their accuracy, thereby reducing the validity of authorship claims in such statements. This paper aims to focus on the authorship status and responsibilities of co-first authors and co-corresponding authors.
Design/methodology/approach
To appreciate authorship responsibilities in this subset of authors, the broader academic authorship literature, as well as position statements, rules and guidelines, were consulted.
Findings
Academic publishing that relies on metrics is a global multi-billion-dollar business, so strict measures to assess and confirm authorship, which can be intellectually or financially “profitable” among academics that game such metrics, are needed. The current assessment is that there are inconsistent rules for equally credited authors such as co-first authors, co-corresponding authors and co-supervisors. In shared and collaborative authorship, there are also shared authorship-related responsibilities, but these are infrequently discussed, or tend to only be dealt with broadly.
Originality/value
Within the wider, and important, discussion about authorship, which is one of the most central issues in academic publishing, there has been a limited focus on equally credited authors such as co-first authors, co-corresponding authors and co-supervisors. This paper expands and fortifies that discussion.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Author contributions: The author contributed fully to the intellectual discussion underlying this paper, literature exploration, writing, reviews and editing and accepts responsibility for the content, analyses and interpretation herein.Conflicts of interest: The author declares no conflicts of interest of relevance to this topic.
Citation
Teixeira da Silva, J.A. (2021), "Multiple co-first authors, co-corresponding authors and co-supervisors: a synthesis of shared authorship credit", Online Information Review, Vol. 45 No. 6, pp. 1116-1130. https://doi.org/10.1108/OIR-06-2020-0219
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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