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J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2007;133:1121-1122
© 2007 The American Association for Thoracic Surgery

Letter to the Editor

Can the consensus statement on surgery journal authorship be implemented?

The University College of Antwerp, Dept of Healthcare Sciences, Antwerp, Belgium

To the Editor:

The "Consensus statement on surgery journal authorship" is of great interest, not only for the surgical scientific community, but for all biomedical research areas. Most important journals have it in some form and all agree on the fundamentals. This indicates that the problem, which is addressed, is widespread. Some questions, however, have to be added.

How will this statement be implemented? Can one rely on the honesty of the coauthors? Is a simple statement of the authors for which part they are responsible sufficient?

The attitude in many universities "to publish or to perish" is a grim reality and forms a serious obstacle for honesty. It is an incentive for one to have his or her name on as many articles as possible, because career opportunies and promotions depend on it.

This is especially a problem in a hierarchy where heads of departments have to authorize for funds and materials, or supervise but without taking part in the research as such. Young researchers, who want to build a career, usually depend on their head of department for a positive reference. A "breach of appropriate authorship," which is an understatement, can be expected.

Possible signs for this breach could be as follows:

• More than 4 or 5 authors (if it is not a multicenter study)

• Authors whose names appear annually in more than 4 full articles

These signs, however, can depend on the type of research and local organization of the research group.

If these¹ signs become apparent, a deep inquiry by the editor might be warranted. An alternative is to limit the number of authors. If acknowlegdements are more detailed and, what is most important, valued by the supporting universities, the incentive for a breach of appropriate authorship might disappear or at least diminish.

References

1. Consensus statement on surgery journal authorship—2006. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2006;131:1221-1222.[Free Full Text]
   

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Personal Folders Download to citation manager Author home page(s): Wilhelm P. Mistiaen Permission Requests Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Mistiaen, W. P. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Mistiaen, W. P. Related Collections Related Article