1. What is the University of Iowa’s policy on authorship?
  2. Who should be included as an author?
  3. What do I do if I believe my authorship rights have been intentionally violated? Whom do I contact?
  4. Additional publishing considerations
     

1. What is the University of Iowa’s policy on authorship? 

A UI policy on authorship was implemented in February 2012 to address questions from faculty, students, and staff related to academic misconduct and authorship issues.

The UI’s policy on authorship is in the UI Policy Manual, Section II-27.10. 

This policy applies to all individuals at The University of Iowa engaged in the publication of research, defined broadly as all forms of scholarly investigation or creative work, regardless of funding source.

2. Who should be included as an author?

  1. Authorship is limited to those who meet both of the following criteria and expectations; all those who meet these standards should be included as an author: 

    (a) Significant intellectual contribution to a project through conception and design, or data collection and analysis, or interpretation; and 

    (b) Ability to identify their own contribution, and ideally the contributions of each participating author, and defend the major aspects of the project presented in the publication, although not necessarily all the technical details. 

    In addition, it is expected that each author has been given the opportunity to participate in the drafting of the manuscript (or substantive revision of its scholarly content) and approves the final version of the manuscript to be published. 

  2. Provision of logistical, financial, or administrative support alone does not constitute a valid basis for authorship. Recognition of these types of contribution is appropriate for an acknowledgements section of a publication.

    Read the full policy in the UI Policy Manual, Section II-27.10.

3. What do I do if I believe my authorship rights have been intentionally violated?

A person who believes his or her authorship rights have been intentionally violated or who wishes to report other improper authorship practices may pursue mediation of the issue through departmental or collegiate channels or the Research Integrity Officer (RIO) or other designated individual appointed by the Vice President for Research for resolution.

The University of Iowa Research Integrity Officer is:

Mike Andrews, BS, MBA
Office of the Vice President for Research
2660 UCC
(319) 335-9687 – phone
(319) 335-2104 – fax
ovpr-rio@uiowa.edu

To review the policy on dispute resolution and disciplinary action, review UI Policy Manual, Section II- 27.10.

4. Additional publishing considerations

Choosing where to submit and publish a journal article or other report of research is a complex decision with implications for the career of the researcher as well as for the dissemination and impact of the results. In some cases, as with NIH funding and proposals such as FRPAA, the funding agency imposes requirements on public accessibility of articles based on funded research.

Pricing and Editorial Practices

In addition to the prestige and reputation of publication outlets, researchers might consider the pricing and editorial practices of the publisher. Some commercial and society publishers charge exceptionally high prices, which limit the reach of work they publish and create barriers to access for many institutions both here and abroad. Open access publishing is one alternative that guarantees broad accessibility. Many open access journals are now highly rated by customary measures of impact. For more information, visit the University Libraries website. 

Copyright

Regardless of the publishing outlet chosen, researchers should consider how they manage the copyright of the published work. Many publishers will allow authors to retain some or all of their copyright and give the publisher non-exclusive rights to publish. The Faculty Senates of the CIC (including Iowa) have passed resolutions that encourage authors to seek to retain these rights when possible. For more information see the University Libraries website.

Proactive Plagiarism Detection

The University of Iowa has purchased site license for iThenticate, an online recognition software used to check academic research, theses, dissertations and other academic work against a database of published scholarly work for inaccuracies in citations and similar content that has not been properly summarized or paraphrased.  It is intended for use by faculty, staff and students to check scholarly work.  It is not intended for checking students course work.

Please note that an account is required to access iThenticate. To request an account, please follow the instructions on the following webpage, iThenticate: Request an Account.

Iowa Research Online

Researchers should also consider depositing an appropriate version of their work in Iowa Research Online (IRO), the institutional repository managed by the Libraries. Deposit in the IRO will also allow broad access.