Authorship Guidelines and Actual Practice: Are They Harmonized in Different Research Systems?

Abstract

Changing patterns in collaborative research networks reflect a new geography of science that is increasingly shaped by interactions between established and emerging scientific powers, whose cultural and political diversity are now reflected in perhaps never before thought of interactions. The various partners in these international collaborations are likely to produce research results that should gradually lead to stronger diversity in research output, including an increase in international co-authorship. When it comes to multinational co-authored publications, among sensitive questions that may complicate these relationships is the way different research systems deal with research integrity. It is well worth examining how to accommodate different cultural traditions and normative assumptions embedded in academic practices for collaborative research networks. Given the increasingly international and interdisciplinary nature of science and engineering, any guidelines for authorship practices in international collaborations must be clear about the variations that exist across disciplines and cultures, variations which will have an impact on accepted practices and expectations for collaboration. Collaborative endeavors in research will succeed only if a broader understanding of potential obstacles to these collaborations is reached.