Four reasons why I think authorship on academic papers should be more like movie credits:
Let me clarify what I mean.
What I like about movie credits is that all the ways of contributing to the finished product are standardized, and everybody gets acknowledged explicitly for whatever they did no matter how small.
This is missing from academia!
What I like about movie credits is that all the ways of contributing to the finished product are standardized, and everybody gets acknowledged explicitly for whatever they did no matter how small.
This is missing from academia!
Reason 1: It would be good for the science
Impressed with a data analysis in a paper or the technical precision of an experiment? This system would make it easy to find exactly who did it.
This would help scientists find other scientists with specific skill sets.
Impressed with a data analysis in a paper or the technical precision of an experiment? This system would make it easy to find exactly who did it.
This would help scientists find other scientists with specific skill sets.
Reason 2: It would surface many of the invisible contributors to science
It would give a concrete way to give credit to people who currently get lumped into the "acknowledgements" under the current system, or don't get listed at all, and who are effectively invisible.
It would give a concrete way to give credit to people who currently get lumped into the "acknowledgements" under the current system, or don't get listed at all, and who are effectively invisible.
Reason 3: It would be fairer
Currently what merits authorship is the subjective opinion of the person or persons in the collaboration with the most power. This kind of setup is easily abused.
Currently what merits authorship is the subjective opinion of the person or persons in the collaboration with the most power. This kind of setup is easily abused.
Reason 4: Something like this will be needed as the average number of authors increases
As science becomes more complex and collaborative, we're going to need ways of making sense of author lists with dozens or hundreds of names. A movie credit like system could be one approach.
As science becomes more complex and collaborative, we're going to need ways of making sense of author lists with dozens or hundreds of names. A movie credit like system could be one approach.
Follow me if you're curious about the systems we use to create knowledge. 🙂
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