Research Integrity

Gift co-authorship

What is gift or ghost authorship?

An author is added to a paper when they have not actually made a contribution to the work, perhaps to reward a collaborator, return a favor, or for some other gain. This article discusses the currently topical issue of ‘gift’ authorship. 

Warning signs

• an author is much more productive than is typically for their field and/or career stage (link to example case)

• the contributions listed for this author in the Author Contribution section does not meet the criteria for co-authorship (widely accepted standard created by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors ICMJE)

  1. Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; AND

  2. Drafting the work or reviewing it critically for important intellectual content; AND

  3. Final approval of the version to be published; AND

  4.  Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved. 

Link to Decision flow chart on gift authorship

Recommended action

• Immediately contact the editor in chief and the managing editor about your concern.

• What will happen next:

  • The peer review process should be suspended if suspicion is raised about authorship

  • When the authors have been contacted and the relevant investigation has been conducted by the journal, further action depends on whether guest, ghost, or gift authorship has been identified

  • Based on the journal’s findings, the authorship list should be corrected

  • The editor in chief may notify the authors’ institutions and reviewing the journal’s policies

Citation manipulation

What is citation manipulation?

Citation manipulation can occur at the author level (such as excessive self citation or citation of collaborators) or during the peer review process (such as editors or journal affiliates pressure authors to include citations to artificially boost citation rates and impact factors).

Link to Decision flow chart on citation manipulation

• Data manipulation can happen in many forms, such as fabricated data sheets, manipulated images (such as Western Blots), manipulated charts

Recommended action

• Immediately contact the editor in chief and the managing editor about your concern.

• What will happen next:

  • Initial steps, the journal will ask the reviewer for evidence and investigating the concerns.

  • The editor will then contact the authors to discuss concerns about data integrity, allowing them an opportunity to respond or clarify before proceeding with any formal actions or decisions.

  • Potential actions based on the journal’s findings include notifying relevant parties, rejecting the manuscript, or reporting to the authors’ institutions, depending on the severity of the misconduct identified.

Did not find what you were looking for?

• Visit COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) for more information

• Contact the editor in chief and managing editor