Exploring the knowledge and acceptance of reputed Authorship Criteria: A Pilot Study among medical researchers in India

Abstract

Objectives: To determine knowledge and acceptance of authorship criteria among residents, PhD scholars and faculty involved in medical research in India. Design: A cross sectional survey was performed via Google forms (a web-based platform).

Results: A total of 117 participants responded to the survey, of whom 66 (56%) were faculty/professors, 23 (20%) residents and 28 (24%) PhD scholars. 33% respondents had faced conflicts with their guide, 58% respondents have offered honorary authorship
sometime in their careers. Only half of the respondents were aware of the ICMJE guidelines for authorship.

Conclusions: Gift Authorship and ‘pressure to publish’ are largely prevalent in bio medical research in India. Journals requiring author-contribution declarations, overlooking the number of publications as the sole source of offering academic promotions among others, are possible solutions to curb this problem.