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On Being a Scientist A Guide to Responsible Conduct in Research: Third Edition (2009) / Chapter Skim
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Authorship and the Allocation of Credit
Pages 35-38

The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
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From page 35...
... In some scientific fields, research supervisors' names rarely appear on papers, while in others the head of a research group is an author on almost every paper associated with the group. Some research groups and journals simply list authors alphabetically.
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From page 36...
... When a beginning researcher makes an intellectual contribution to a project, that contribution deserves to be recognized, including when the work is undertaken independently of the laboratory's principal investigator. Established researchers are well aware of the importance of credit in science where traditions expect them to be generous in their allocation of credit to beginning researchers.
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From page 37...
... Authors from one discipline may say that they are not responsible for the accuracy of material provided by authors from another discipline. A contrasting view is that each author needs to be confident of the accuracy of everything in the paper -- perhaps by having a trusted colleague read the parts of the paper outside one's own discipline.
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From page 38...
... Many argued that Bell should have shared the Nobel Prize awarded to Hewish for the discovery, saying that her recognition of the signal was the crucial act of discovery. Others, including Bell herself, said that she received adequate recognition in other ways and should not have been so lavishly rewarded for doing what a graduate student is expected to do in a project conceived and set up by others.
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Key Terms

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  • beginning researcher

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  • computer simulations
  • research process

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  • contrasting view
  • disavow responsibility
  • guidelines apply
  • similar examples

  • paper containing
  • particular research
  • radio sources
  • contribution deserves
  • apportions responsibility

  • authors dilutes
  • traditions expect
  • investigate scintillating
  • nobel prize
  • scintillating radio


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