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Authorship in Academia: Who Deserves Credit?

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There’s been a lot of discussion lately about authorship in academia and publishing. I recently came across a LinkedIn post where a PhD student raised concerns about authors being added without contributing to writing or data analysis. While I don’t know the specifics of that case, it reminded me of my own PhD journey.

Authorship can be tricky, especially when there’s no clear agreement upfront. I remember discussing this early on at SEED Lab at Purdue when Kerrie Douglas introduced us to the APA authorship determination scorecard. One thing that stuck with me was how much weight the scorecard gives to conceptualizing the research idea—it’s often invisible but absolutely fundamental.

Authorship norms vary across fields, but this framework really resonated with us. It made me realize that contributions beyond writing and analysis—like shaping the research question and methodology—deserve recognition too.

For PhD students, my advice is to regularly reflect on what you bring to the research. Have those authorship conversations early, raise concerns when needed, but also recognize that sometimes, even if someone hasn’t written a single word, they might still deserve credit—because where an idea comes from matters.

What’s your perspective on this?

Scorecard link: APA Authorship Determination Scorecard