Authorship guidelines for Applied Nursing Research

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With the increase in nursing research, the scientific community is faced with more questions about authorship and journal editors are often asked about the rules that authors should follow. Many universities have developed general guidelines to assist scientists across disciplines. Although authorship practices (e.g., the order of author names) may differ across disciplines, some guidelines apply across all scientific disciplines. Because there have been a number of inquiries regarding authorship guidelines for Applied Nursing Research (ANR), the following general guidelines are provided to authors. First, anyone who is listed as an author for an article should have made a substantive, direct, intellectual contribution to the work. In the specific instance of a research report, each author should have contributed to the conceptualization, research design, analysis of findings, and/or interpretation of data. Honorary or guest authorship is not acceptable within scientific reporting. An individual who has provided access to support or to subjects should not be listed as an author on the research report based on that action alone.

Within nursing, and thus for ANR, the individual who has made the most significant contribution to the research is listed as the first author. Generally, the co-authors are listed in descending order of the contribution they have made. If authors choose to vary from this general principle and the order of authorship might raise questions for the readers, it is often helpful to provide the method of determining authorship for the readers. Some author groups choose to list all authors alphabetically after listing the first author (the most significant contributor), independent of the significance level of their contribution. If research team members have made equal contributions to the research, the authors may vary the order of names with each subsequent publication. Authorship decisions can raise major questions if abused; junior researchers may be prevented from securing first-authored publications if all their work are within interdisciplinary teams and if their teams decide that the most senior author's name will be listed first in all publications.

Research teams should directly address the order of authorship early in their work together. It is most often recommended that the agreement be formalized and written so that all participants are clear about future publications. This formalization is protective of junior members of the team, such as graduate students and research assistants. They should know before the drafting of manuscripts whether they can expect authorship. This decision will depend on the level of their participation; the most important issue is that there be clarity and agreement in the expectations for authorship. Changes in contributions to articles or research reports may of course vary over time. If changes occur, it is wise to renegotiate authorship rather than abide by earlier agreements. Disputes over authorship are best settled by the research teams themselves, but if necessary, other scholars can be asked for advice. In schools of nursing, the person administratively responsible for the research mission may be asked for advice regarding authorship disputes.

Independent of the order of authorship for an article, authors should designate one corresponding author for contact with journal staff. This facilitates communication, is much more efficient for journal staff, and helps us track manuscripts more quickly.

Please let us know if you have any questions about our ANR guidelines.