The policies in PDF format can be downloaded here.
Types of Authors
This section describes different designations for authors and the order in which they are listed in published manuscripts. Authorship will be limited to those who have contributed to the paper. Contributions may involve conceptualization, experimental design, data collection, analysis, or writing of the manuscript. At least one area of contribution is required (CRediT areas, see here for details), and all authors must sign off on the final paper, reply to submission requests within the allotted time, and approve the manuscript ‘Author Contributions’ section. Authors share responsibility for the entire paper as an accurate, verifiable report of the research.
Corresponding author(s)
Corresponding authors are responsible for communication about the article with the journal and the larger scientific community. Corresponding authors are responsible for ensuring that required materials are sent to the journal editorial office and should obtain permission from all authors for the submission of each version of the manuscript and for any change in authorship. Corresponding authors will often be a senior author but could also be a first author.
Senior (last) author(s)
The last author(s) listed are faculty responsible for overseeing the research presented in the manuscript and who contributed toward writing of the manuscript. If multiple people oversaw the research and writing, there can be multiple senior authors. In the case of multiple senior authors, they will determine their author order.
Additional PI (Principal Investigators) author(s)
Faculty members that contribute to a paper, but less so than the senior authors will be listed immediately before the senior authors.
First author(s)
First authorship indicates the person(s) who contributed most to the paper. This includes experimental, intellectual, and text contributions. If multiple people made essential contributions, they can all be listed as “co-first authors”. For large, integrative papers multiple first authors are likely. Author order among co-first authors will be determined by the senior authors in consultation with the first authors.
Other co-author(s)
Additional co-authors who contributed to experimental design, data collection, data analysis, manuscript writing, etc. will be listed in between the first and senior authors in approximate order of their contribution. For papers with large author lists, a randomized order can be used to avoid trying to weigh relative contributions. Again, all authors must have at least one area of contribution (CRediT areas), and all authors must sign off on the final paper, reply to submission requests within the allotted time, and approve the manuscript ‘Author Contributions’ section.
Author Eligibility and Advance Notification of Planned Publication
All BPRI members are eligible to be authors, regardless of level or job title, if they have contributed to the paper. Before any BPRI member begins work on an integrative paper, there should be statement of intent with an invitation to contribute provided to rest of the BPRI. This may be an informal statement, e.g., given to the institute at a symposium or townhall meeting. Once the initial manuscript is written, a subsequent announcement of planned author order and journal should be sent to all potential contributors. The authors’ order will likely change throughout the process as new contributions are added to the manuscript.
Indication of Contributions
If the journal does not allow an ‘Author Contributions’ section in the article, this information should be listed in the ‘Acknowledgments’ section.
Grievance policy
If there is a dispute over inclusion for authorship or author order, the BPRI executive committee will be responsible for settling the dispute. Any student involved in the disagreement will select an ombudsperson to serve as their representative. Potential representatives could be an official ombudsperson from their university, a member from the BPRI Student Leadership Council, and a member of the BPRI’s Inclusive Excellence board willing to act as an advocate on their behalf.
Training and Resources
Office of Research Integrity authorship guidelines
APA (American Psychological Association) publication resources
Additionally, any member that has not already taken training for responsible authorship is encouraged to take the applicable CITI (Collaborative Institutional Training Initiative) training linked below.
Responsible research conduct (basic)
Responsible research conduct (refresher)
Responsible research conduct (facilitator guides)