Authorship in scientific productions: Concepts, criteria, integrity in research and responsibility in collaboration

Abstract

This article aims to discuss the scientific authorship, the concepts and the criteria related to the responsibility of authors regarding their contributions, as well as to glimpse over the ethical and integrity aspects of research in scientific communication. A literature review was carried out with the purpose of seeking and raising references on the subject. The selected materials had as main criterion the origin of the scientific sources, such as books and scientific articles, besides some sites of official entities that establish norms and criteria for the attribution of authorship. The results demonstrate that the concepts of author, authorship, coauthor and collaborator do not yet have a single definition and that encompasses the whole set that contemplates the criteria that constitute authorship. It is concluded that researchers can create a set of guidelines to define their contributions and tasks, or they can choose to adopt models or policies of authorship suggested by their area, institution or scientific journals for avoiding problems related with collaborative writing and articles with multiple authorships.