1. Why should Ms. Jacobs and Dr. Frank have discussed the laboratory’s approach to authorship issues when she started working in his laboratory?

Journals usually have guidelines for authors regarding how researchers should submit a manuscript to the publication. But the process of responsible authorship begins before the writing of a manuscript, with good scientific study design and with researchers abiding by ethical guidelines concerning research involving animals and human subjects. Another important aspect of authorship that should occur before the writing of the paper, though, is that potential authors should know the policy of their laboratory, department, and institution with respect to what constitutes an author. When a graduate student first comes to a laboratory, or a postdoctoral fellow or technician interviews for a job, or colleagues collaborate in a multidisciplinary project, a discussion about the practice of credit and authorship for research work should take place as soon as possible. Each party should have an understanding of what kind of work merits authorship, with the knowledge that, as the research project progresses, who is an author on a paper and the position of a name on a list of authors may change. Often, conflicts arise because people feel that they have been promised authorship on a paper but ultimately do not get it or it is given to someone else.