III-1.11(D)

UMB Policy on Authorship on Scholarly Publications

Academic Affairs   |   Approved August 1, 2015

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Responsible VP/AVP

Roger Ward, EdD, JD, MSL, MPA

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Policy Statement

PURPOSE AND POLICY STATEMENT:

Authorship on scientific and scholarly publications is critically important in the research enterprise. It gives credit to the appropriate individuals and allows the academic community to know who is responsible for the published work.

Integrity in research and scholarly activities is the responsibility of the entire academic community. UMB personnel listed as authors on scientific and scholarly publications assume the responsibility of ensuring the validity, the responsible conduct, and the integrity of the research on which the publications listing them as authors is based.

DEFINING AUTHORSHIP

Authorship

UMB recognizes that authorship guidelines vary by discipline. Knowing that there is a diversity of practices in different disciplines, the expectation is that each UMB school will develop, document, and disseminate the guidelines for determining authorship in a manner consistent within the respective disciplines.

Disputes

To avoid disputes, authorship should be addressed as early in the concept ion and design of the research as possible. In the event of a dispute regarding authorship arises, the research team should attempt to resolve the issue to the satisfaction of every member that is considered an author under the school's policy. If a dispute regarding authorship cannot be resolved, the research team should present the issue(s) to the department chair or division head for resolution; however, unresolved authorship disputes or conflicts of interest, may be mediated by the school Dean. If no resolution is found, the Provost will have the final authority to resolve the dispute.

Unacceptable Authorship

Each school should include in its guidelines examples of what constitutes unacceptable attribution of authorship.

Each UMB school's guidelines on authorship must be completed by October 1, 2015 and submitted to the Provost for approval.

Scope and Exceptions

This policy applies to research activity at UMB by any person, including faculty, staff, students, visitors, and others; or by activity performed elsewhere, by a person acting under the auspices of UMB.

Roles and Responsibilities

The President's designee and Institutional Official with responsibility for carrying out this policy is the Executive Vice President and Provost :

Executive Vice President and Provost
University of Maryland, Baltimore
Baltimore, MD 21201
410-706-1850