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Graduate Centre

Guidelines on Joint Authorship

The University encourages joint authorship by academic staff and postgraduate research students in appropriate cases. For students, writing for publication during candidature gives access to the critical comments of specialist referees before thesis examination.

It also enhances international/national recognition of research before and after research degrees are conferred. Joint authorship with academic staff can improve students’ research profiles and increase their opportunities for research and academic employment.

Research publications are increasingly important for staff, research students and the University, and authors are expected to acknowledge the contributions of co-authors and the University in appropriate ways.

Definition of Authorship

According to the AVCC and NH&MRC, ‘Authorship is participation in conceiving and/or executing and/or interpreting at least that part of a publication in a co-author’s field of expertise, sufficient for him/her to take public responsibility for it. “Honorary authorship” is an unacceptable practice’.

Code of Conduct for Research: Authorship

The definition of authorship is elaborated in section 4 of the Code of Conduct for Research, which is available from the Graduate Centre or on the Internet at:
http://wwwadmin.murdoch.edu.au/research/gdelines/policies/codeconres.html - link4

The Code of Conduct includes a requirement that ‘one author (by agreement among the authors) should formally accept overall responsibility for the entire publication, including the ‘Statement of Authorship and Location of Data form’. All authors are required to sign this ‘Statement’.

The Code of Conduct defines ‘misconduct in research’. This includes ‘misleading ascription of authorship - including the listing of authors without their permission, attributing work to others who have not in fact contributed to the research, and the lack of appropriate acknowledgment of work primarily produced by a research student/trainee or associate’. Procedures for dealing with allegations of ‘misconduct in research’ are specified in the Code of Conduct.

The Code of Conduct for Research is available from the Graduate Centre or on the Internet at: http://www.research.edu.au/gdelines/policies/codeconres.html

Responsibilities of Supervisors - Publication

Supervisors’ responsibilities include: ‘advising the candidate on the aims, scope and presentation of the thesis and of any publication likely to arise from the work’. Possible publications are normally discussed during candidature, as well as after award of the research degree. In most Faculties of study co-authorship is a normal part of the publication process, either during or after candidature, if the condition of authorship above (117.1) is satisfied. Supervisors should also ensure that Murdoch University is properly acknowledged in any publication based on research conducted by their students in the University.

Joint Authorship and the Thesis