Knowledge on ethical authorship: A comparative study between medical and pharmacy faculty

Abstract

Aim: The study was aimed to assess the knowledge on understanding ethical authorship of research publications among the medical and pharmacy faculty members of India. Materials and Methods: We have selected 54 numbers of medical faculty members and 41 numbers of pharmacy faculty members from different parts of India to assess their understanding and knowledge on concept in authorship issues for ethical publication by questionnaire and telephone interview. Results: It showed a significant higher number of publications (t=3.765, p<0.001) including first authorship (t=15.34, p<0.001) among pharmacy faculty members as compared to medical faculty members. 74.07% of medical and 68.29% of pharmacy faculty members confessed that they did not have any discussion on authorship issues at anytime.88.88% of medical and 36.5% of pharmacy faculty members also mentioned that their Professors and Head of the departments were awarded 'gifted authorship'. 81.4% of medical and 29.26% of pharmacy faculty members also said that their seniors pressurized them to include their names in their manuscripts. Conclusions: Indicate a clear unethical practice on authorship issues among medical faculty members of India. Although pharmacy faculty members are better in practicing ethical authorship as compared to their medical counterparts but them too need lot of improvements on understanding ethical authorship.