ABOVE: WIKIMEDIA, ELKEDEBRIE
The first author of a scientific journal article should ensure the integrity of all of the content in a research paper, researchers suggested May 2 in PLOS One.
Katrin Hussinger and Maikel Pellens of Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in Belgium analyzed 80 misconduct cases investigated by the US Office of Research Integrity and found that a paper’s first author is 38 percent more likely to be found responsible for misconduct than the paper’s middle authors. Senior authors, usually listed last, were no more likely than any other to have acted inappropriately. Corresponding authors, typically the first or senior author or sometimes another coauthor, had a 14 percent higher chance of committing misconduct than middle authors.
“These findings suggest that a guarantor-like model where first authors are ex-ante accountable for misconduct is highly likely to not miss catching the author responsible, while not afflicting too many bystanders,” the researchers ...
