Authorship on a paper is obvious and will easily, automatically, and fairly be decided, right?  If you’re laughing right now, you probably don’t need to read further.  If you nodded your head, stop what you’re doing and read Small Pond Science‘s Terry McGlynn on how and why to negotiate authorship at the start of a project (yes, before the data come in), and when and why to change things as the project progresses.

Negotiating Authorship

Have you ever had a paper go horribly wrong because of arguments about authorship? Do you have great suggestions for negotiating who goes where in the author lineup? Tell us about them!

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