[Rdap] [External Email] Re: Determining first author for datasets

Tue May 5 11:16:48 EDT 2020

I agree with Megan - the practice for assigning author order in pubs and
projects can vary by discipline. I'd follow the feedback from the
PI/postdoc in that field.
Beth

On Tue, May 5, 2020 at 11:11 AM O'Donnell, Megan N [LIB] <mno at iastate.edu>
wrote:

> In my experience:
>
> It’s not unusual for a PI in a supervising role to be last author (STEM
> disciplines) and for the lead researcher(s), often grad students, post
> docs, or collaborating faculty, to be first, second, etc. authors.
>
> Something like: Postdocs, data analyst, data curator, PI.
>
>
>
> If it was me, and this wasn’t part of my P&T, I’d go with what the PI and
> post-docs think is best. The norms for this differ by field and the best
> way to make sure proper credit is given and documented might be to add info
> on each person’s role to the documentation until things like the CRediT
> <https://casrai.org/credit/> are implemented more widely (not that it’s
> perfect, but it’s a start).
>
>
>
> *Megan O'Donnell **Data Services Librarian*
>
> *Ent, NREM, Plant Path, and Environment Librarian*
> *she/her/hers*
>
> *[image: Inline image 1]*
>
> *University Library*
>
>
>
> *From:* rdap-bounces at kunverj.com <rdap-bounces at kunverj.com> *On Behalf Of
> *Megan Chenoweth
> *Sent:* Tuesday, May 5, 2020 9:56 AM
> *To:* rdap at mail.kunverj.com
> *Subject:* [Rdap] Determining first author for datasets
>
>
>
> Hello RDAP listserv,
>
>
>
> Does anyone ever advise data depositors about the order in which to list
> dataset creators/contributors as authors on the dataset? Or do you have any
> guidelines on how to decide who is the first author?
>
>
>
> A little context: the repository that I manage (NaNDA
> <https://www.openicpsr.org/openicpsr/nanda> on openICPSR) houses datasets
> that are a) usually based on other data sources and b) not necessarily the
> end result of one single study or publication. Dataset creation is usually
> a joint effort by four roles:
>
>    - Data analyst: one or more, who write code and create the actual
>    datasets.
>    - Postdocs: who define the kinds of measures they're interested in
>    exploring for their publications and provide the theoretical framework for
>    what goes into our datasets.
>    - PI: the person who started NaNDA and directs everyone's work, but
>    often is not involved in the minutiae of creating particular datasets.
>    - Me: part project manager helping to facilitate dataset creation,
>    part data curator writing documentation, tweaking variable names and
>    labels, etc.
>
> I have been listing them as: PI, data analyst(s), postdocs, me. Our PI
> thinks it's not appropriate to list her first when others are more directly
> involved. But of the three other roles, we're not sure what kind of effort
> (technical or intellectual) is the most appropriate to recognize first or
> last (the two positions that, my PI tells me, count the most for tenure and
> promotion considerations in her field).
>
>
>
> I'm really curious to hear what the rest of RDAP thinks, and whether this
> has come up in any conversations with the data creators/depositors you work
> with.
>
>
>
> Thank you for any input you care to share!
>
>
>
> --
>
> Megan Chenoweth (she/her)
>
> Data Manager/Curator, Social Environment and Health
>
> Institute for Social Research | University of Michigan
>
> 426 Thompson St. #3350
>
> Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1248
>
> 734-936-0649 | mmchenow at umich.edu
>
> NaNDA <https://www.openicpsr.org/openicpsr/nanda> | Americans' Changing
> Lives <https://acl.isr.umich.edu/>
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-- 
Elizabeth Brown, MS, MLIS (she/her/hers)
Director of Assessment and Scholarly Communications
Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics Librarian
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