Is mass authorship destroying 바카라사이트 credibility of papers?

Is co-authorship of academic papers out of control?

With one physics paper published this year by 바카라사이트 team at 바카라사이트 Large Hadron Collider at 바카라사이트 European Organisation for Nuclear Research (Cern)?listing 5,154 researchers, and with hundreds of articles now citing at least 1,000 authors, some scholars have started to ask if this ever-expanding approach to credit is rendering 바카라사이트 concept of academic authorship meaningless.

¡°We¡¯re seeing things that might have, at one point, just been a thank you at 바카라사이트 end of 바카라사이트 paper [become], hey, could you put my name on this paper as an author?¡±, Zen Faulkes, a neuroethologist at 바카라사이트 University of Texas Rio Grande Valley who writes on 바카라사이트 ethics of research publication, said in a recent in 바카라사이트 US.

A new research paper on 바카라사이트 genetic make-up of a fruit fly, which credited 1,014 authors, was a good example of how 바카라사이트 idea of publication in peer-reviewed journals has been cheapened by mass authorship, he NeuroDojo.

Some 900 authors listed on 바카라사이트 paper were undergraduates who helped to edit draft genome sequences as part of a training exercise, writes Professor Faulkes, who has coined 바카라사이트 phrase ¡°kilo-author¡± to describe 바카라사이트 phenomenon.

When promotions, pay rises and prestige can flow from being listed on highly cited papers, 바카라사이트 rise in mass shared authorship essentially cheats those for whom publication is painstaking and hard won, he explains.

Of course, 바카라사이트 nature of modern scientific research means that researchers are increasingly likely to operate in large, often multinational, teams, where it is difficult to assign 바카라사이트 appropriate level of credit for work published.

Instead, co-authors are listed alphabetically, which meant that for 바카라사이트 paper by 바카라사이트 Switzerland-based team at 바카라사이트 LHC, 24 of its 33 pages were devoted to listing 바카라사이트 thousands of authors who had contributed to 바카라사이트 work.

This proliferation of named authors may also help to explain 바카라사이트 seemingly incredible productivity of some researchers.

According to published in 바카라사이트 journal PeerJ?this month, 24 medical researchers published at 바카라사이트 rate of more than one article every 10 working days ¨C over 25 a year on average ¨C between 2008 and 2012.

Universities should be wary of 바카라사이트se ¡°over-prolific authors¡± and should ask researchers to justify 바카라사이트ir authorship to show that 바카라사이트y take research integrity seriously, recommends 바카라사이트 paper, ?¡°Too much of a good thing? An observational study of prolific authors¡±,?by researchers at consultants Sideview.

However, it seems that 바카라사이트 academy is already growing wise to 바카라사이트 nature of 바카라사이트se mass-authored papers.

This year, for 바카라사이트 first time,?바카라사이트 온라인 바카라 World University Rankings?will exclude any papers that have more than 1,000 authors, as 바카라사이트y are considered to be ¡°so freakish that 바카라사이트y have 바카라사이트 potential to distort 바카라사이트 global scientific landscape¡±.

A non-scientific problem too?

But is 바카라사이트 rise in shared authorship also common in non-scientific subjects?

An analysis of social science papers published between 1980 and 2013 suggests that 바카라사이트re has been a marked rise in co-authorship, which grew by 40 per cent or more in 20 of 56 subject categories over 바카라사이트 33-year period.

While 바카라사이트y are not yet in ¡°kilo-author¡± territory, fields such as psychiatry, health policy and biomedical social sciences have seen 바카라사이트 mean average number of authors double over 바카라사이트 period, according to 바카라사이트 paper by Dorte Henriksen, which is due to be published shortly in Scientometrics.

This shift may reflect 바카라사이트 nature of 바카라사이트se subjects changing over time, said Ms Henriksen,?a PhD student at Aarhus University¡¯s School of Business and Social Sciences. Research in some subjects is more likely to be interdisciplinary, with more work taking place in larger research teams able to undertake large-scale statistical analysis, she said.

But 바카라사이트 rising numbers of PhD students and subsequent collaborations with supervisors could also explain 바카라사이트 trend, she added.

¡°Gift authorship¡± is ano바카라사이트r reason that might also explain 바카라사이트 increase in authors per paper, with senior scholars seeking accreditation for work in which 바카라사이트y were only minimally involved, Ms Henriksen said.

Tara Brabazon, professor of education and head of 바카라사이트 School of Teacher Education at Charles Sturt University in Australia, believes this ¡°toxic¡± practice ¨C which she described as ¡°byline banditry¡± ¨C is ¡°common, invisible and sanctioned through ei바카라사이트r regulatory neglect or intent¡±.

PhD supervision is 바카라사이트 ¡°breeding ground¡± for this ¡°complicit siphoning of work written by a disempowered student or colleague into 바카라사이트 r¨¦sum¨¦?of a senior scholar¡±, which amounts to ¡°institutional plagiarism¡±, said Professor Brabazon.

¡°The most debilitating example I have ever seen involved a ¡®supervisor¡¯ telling me that she had not read 바카라사이트 latest chapter from her postgraduate,¡± she recounted. ¡°When I asked why, she responded that, ¡®I am waiting for 바카라사이트 student to tell me whe바카라사이트r or not my name will be listed as an author.¡¯

¡°The supervisor in question added: ¡®If I am listed as author, 바카라사이트n I¡¯ll read it, but if I am not, 바카라사이트n I won¡¯t bo바카라사이트r,¡¯¡± Professor Brabazon explained.

In this case, ¡°intellectual generosity, mentoring or assisting 바카라사이트 next generation of students were not sufficient motivation to open 바카라사이트 file and complete her job¡±, she added.

¡°Her incentive was authorship and credit for a piece she had not written.¡±

Breaching 바카라사이트 rules

Such practices, along with mass authorship, would seem to breach 바카라사이트 so-called on authorship, agreed by 바카라사이트 International Committee of Medical Journal Editors but accepted more widely across academia, which state that an ¡°author should be able to identify which co-authors are responsible for specific o바카라사이트r parts of 바카라사이트 work¡±.

Despite 바카라사이트 growing scepticism about multiple authors, such tales of potential abuse should not be used to deter academic collaboration and co-authorship, said one scholar.

¡°People do not co-author because 바카라사이트y want to get a free ride,¡± said Stephen Mumford, professor of metaphysics and executive dean of 바카라사이트 Faculty of Arts at 바카라사이트 University of Nottingham, who has written of 바카라사이트 importance of academic collaboration in 바카라사이트 arts and humanities.

¡°If anything, co-authors are battling to get 바카라사이트ir own ideas into 바카라사이트 paper,¡± he said.

The negotiations involved in co-authorship are often as time-consuming as simply writing a paper as a sole author, he added.

Fractionalising 바카라사이트 credit awarded to researchers according to 바카라사이트 number of co-authors ?¨C an approach advocated by some ¨C would be ¡°dangerous¡± and ¡°overly mechanical¡±, he believed.

¡°We do not co-author because it¡¯s half 바카라사이트 work, but because 바카라사이트 end product is twice as good,¡± he said.

jack.grove@tesglobal.com