Psychology of the Scientist: LXXX. Attitudes regarding Authorship Issues in Psychological Publications

The purpose of this article is to explore empirically issues and attitudes surrounding the assignment of credit for authorship in psychological research. A survey consisting of research tasks, vignettes, and questions relating to collaborations between faculty and students was completed by 203 individuals (23.3% response rate) from a national, random sample of faculty and graduate students. Analysis indicated that tasks related to manuscript writing, developing research ideas, and research design were important criteria for assigning credit of authorship. Status, seniority, and data collection were rated as unimportant to the assignment of credit. The issues surrounding collaborations between faculty and students were also examined.