Graduate Students and the Culture of Authorship

In the last 50 years, multiauthored publications have become more prevalent, given the increasing number of collaborative, interdisciplinary, multicenter research stud-ies. The determination of authorship credit and order is a difficult process, especially for graduate students, whose disadvantaged power position in research settings in-creases their vulnerability to exploitation. The American Psychological Association has published ethical standards for determining authorship credit, but the power dif-ference inherent in the student–faculty relationship may complicate this ethical di-lemma. The authors reviewed a number of previously recommended strategies and proposed that determining authorship credit is most effectively facilitated through professional development