Nelson, Phillip and Petrova , Marina G. (2022) Research assistants : scientific credit and recognised authorship. Learned Publishing, 35 (3). pp. 423-427. doi:10.1002/leap.1467 ISSN 1741-4857.

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Abstract

The employment of research assistants (RAs) is extremely common in academia. RAs are junior researchers—from undergraduate students to postdocs—employed for a variety of purposes, often including conducting literature reviews, data collection, analysis and so forth for a piece of publishable work. More than a few RAs aspire to an academic career. The common practice is to credit these individuals through a special mention in the acknowledgements section. However, this practice lacks transparency, does not consider the significant contribution some RAs make and has little to no bearing on their future careers. The currency of academia is published works—being recognized as an author. The best support for early career researchers would thus be to include them as an author when they contribute as an RA. But how should the topic of co-authorship be broached, and what constitutes enough of a contribution to warrant being designated an author?

These are questions that the authors of this piece have asked themselves and each other as they were employed as RAs and, recently, as employers of an RA. In this article, we critically discuss the contributions of RAs in publishable works, how their efforts fit (or do not fit) within the definition of an author, and how their work can be recognized outside of authorship when they do not meet agreed thresholds. We recommend that all researchers familiarize themselves with the factors that constitute authorship, and that senior scholars openly discuss the matter with their RAs to provide clarity for both parties and enhance positive outcomes. At the heart of this should be the concern of scientific credit for research work.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Alternative Title:
Subjects:	L Education > LB Theory and practice of education > LB2300 Higher Education P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General) Q Science > Q Science (General)
Divisions:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Politics and International Studies
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Research teams , Group work in research , Authorship, Academic writing , Graduate students -- Professional relationships, Universities and colleges -- Graduate work
Journal or Publication Title:	Learned Publishing
Publisher:	Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd.
ISSN:	1741-4857
Official Date:	27 July 2022
Dates:	Date Event 27 July 2022 Published 3 May 2022 Accepted
Volume:	35
Number:	3
Page Range:	pp. 423-427
DOI:	10.1002/leap.1467
Status:	Peer Reviewed
Publication Status:	Published
Access rights to Published version:	Open Access (Creative Commons)
Copyright Holders:	© 2022 The Authors. Learned Publishing published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of ALPSP.
Date of first compliant deposit:	26 May 2022
Date of first compliant Open Access:	15 September 2022
Related URLs:	Publisher

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