Authorship issues in a research article

Abstract

The authorship issue is a very sensitive area in scientific publications. Fulfilling the authorship criteria of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors is the basis of inclusion as an author in an article. Courtesy authorships have always been regarded as a means of misconduct in the publication world and lead to conflict among authors. This practice often denies an individual the credit that he deserves to be an author for the originality and creativity of his work. There is a need to curb the practice of inappropriate and unethical authorship. A few guidelines and an authorship index have been proposed that determine the author’s contribution to scientific writing. Authorship issues from the legal point of view have also been discussed in the article. Awareness programmes and seminars must be conducted to make researchers aware of the need to decide the authorship issues appropriately.