Author versus non-author contributor
There are no universal definitions of authorship. However, a common denominator points to responsibility and accountability for the published work. Amongst the existing attempts of defining authorship, our preference goes to the Vancouver rules (also recognised by the Committee On Publication Ethics, COPE), which stipulate that to claim authorship, one must
- substantially contribute to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; AND
- draft the work or revise it critically for important intellectual content; AND
- approve the final version to be published; AND
- agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved; AND
- be able to identify which co-authors are responsible for specific parts of the work.
If yes to all, one may claim authorship. Otherwise, one will be considered a non-author contributor, and the work accomplished must be acknowledged in the article.