School of Life Sciences

Guidelines for authorship/acknowledgement of SLIM (June 2018)

Overview

We follow internationally established guidelines suggesting that if scientists from SLIM contributed more than just routine techniques, they should be co-authors of papers that use data generated by the facility. 

Development or adaptation of protocols to suit samples or materials, designing experiments, extensive data analysis and interpretation are not routine and constitutes contributions meriting co-authorship. Simple acquisitions of raw data or routine sample preparations alone normally would not merit co-authorship but should still be acknowledged. 

Proper acknowledgement provides a visible measure of the impact and success of the facility and helps to secure support and funding.  

Authorship decisions are generally made at the preparation stage of a manuscript, rather than at the initiation of the work. If you are uncertain about co-authorship or have any questions or concerns about this, please discuss this issue with the Tim Self

Any data generated by using the facility resources, which is used for publication, either in the manuscript or as supplementary data, should be acknowledged, for example “We thank the School of Life Sciences imaging facility (SLIM) and staff for their contribution to this publication”. Please send a reprint of the paper, or an e-mail including the reference information for the publication to Tim Self.

We also politely request that you remember to acknowledge use of the facilities in your presentations and also cite SLIM in grants (after discussion of imaging component and costs for the grant with Tim Self).

Background

Core facilities provide our research community with state-of-the-art instrumentation and expertise, elevating the research. It is important to recognise the contributions of facility personnel to the advancement of scientific research. The type of recognition that is most appropriate will vary depending on the contribution provided. Important reasons for acknowledging contributions from core facilities in publications, by co-authorship or by formal mention in the acknowledgments section, include: 

  • Core facility personnel are scientists. When they make a substantial intellectual and/or experimental contribution to a publication they deserve to be recognised and acknowledged, just as any other co-author.
  • The existence of core facilities depends in part on proper acknowledgment in publications. This is an important metric of the value of most facilities. Proper acknowledgment of facilities enables them to obtain financial and other support. It also helps core personnel to advance in their careers, adding to the overall health of the facility.
  • If core personnel have co-authorship where deserved, it will avoid the risk of misinterpretation and help ensure the data is accurately conveyed and described.

Questions and answers

How do access charges, authorship and acknowledgements help SLIM develop?
 
When Is authorship or acknowledgment most appropriate?
 

For further information about imaging scientists: https://www.imagingscientist.com/

The ABRF (Association of Biomolecular Resource Facilities) is an international society dedicated to advancing core and research biotechnology laboratories through research, communication, and education. See ABRF website.

"Guidelines for Including Facility Staff as Authors"ABRF 2008 Session, Salt Lake City, UTSession Organizer: Nancy Denslow, Session Participants: Steve Bobin, Tom Neubert, Laurey Steinke and Tony Yeung

Research Technologies: Fulfilling the Promise (Angeletti, R The FASEB Journal. 1999; 13:595-601).

ABRF Listserv thread April 2010 RE: "Failure to Acknowledge Core Input" Listserv thread here.

 

 

School of Life Sciences

University of Nottingham
Medical School
Queen's Medical Centre
Nottingham NG7 2UH

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