Authorship is about more than just getting credit—it also reflects responsibility and accountability for the work that’s published. Because authorship can have academic, professional, and even financial implications, it’s important to approach it thoughtfully.
This guidance was developed by MIT’s Research Integrity team within the Office of the Vice President for Research, in collaboration with thought partners across the Institute and MIT Libraries, to support the MIT community in navigating authorship and related publication discussions. It’s a working document meant to serve as a helpful, Institute-wide resource. That said, it doesn’t replace any signed authorship agreements or discipline-specific policies already in place within MIT schools, departments, labs, centers, or institutes, or applicable journal policies where authorship and publication expectations are clearly defined.
Table of Contents
- Communicating Expectations
- Authorship Criteria
- Identifying Contributions
- Acknowledging Non-Author Contributions
- Addressing Authorship Disputes
- Ownership of Intellectual Property (“IP”)
- Data Management and Security
- Copyright and Thesis Considerations
- Preprints and Permission
- Use of MIT Name and Affiliation in Scholarly Work
- Text Recycling (AKA “Self-Plagiarism”)
- Avoiding Predatory Journals and Paper Mills
- Use of AI in MIT Research and Scholarship