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

Tue May 5 17:34:18 EDT 2020

Hi

Before this Covid episode, my campus had a discussion about authorship. A little late for this example, but one point that came out is that the discussion and agreement should be made while the project is being set up.

Daureen Nesdill

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From: rdap-bounces at kunverj.com <rdap-bounces at kunverj.com> on behalf of Elizabeth A Brown <ebrown at binghamton.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, May 5, 2020 9:16 AM
To: Research Data Access and Preservation
Subject: Re: [Rdap] [External Email] Re: Determining first author for datasets

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<mailto: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
[Inline image 1]
University Library

From: rdap-bounces at kunverj.com<mailto:rdap-bounces at kunverj.com> <rdap-bounces at kunverj.com<mailto:rdap-bounces at kunverj.com>> On Behalf Of Megan Chenoweth
Sent: Tuesday, May 5, 2020 9:56 AM
To: rdap at mail.kunverj.com<mailto: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<mailto: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
Binghamton University Libraries | LN-2504C | Binghamton, NY 13902-6012
ebrown at binghamton.edu<mailto:ebrown at binghamton.edu> | 607.237.1937 | ORCID: 0000-0001-7983-5868

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