Authorship Procedure

Policy code: RS1957
Policy owner: Director, Research and Innovation
Approval authority: Chief Operating Officer
Approval date: 22 May 2025
Next review date: 22 May 2028

Purpose
Scope
Definitions
Actions
Supporting Documents
Forms
Responsibility
Promulgation
Implementation
Records Management

Purpose

To state the processes involved in ensuring meritorious recognition of authorship affiliation acknowledgement, and author role responsibilities for research outputs produced under the auspices of Federation University and/or by Federation University researchers.

Scope

This procedure covers all research outputs to which Federation University Australia authors make an intellectual and scholarly contribution, whether internal or external, sole authored or multi-authored.  This procedure applies to:

  • All staff, including sessional staff, currently employed by the University (including those involved in research external to the University);
  • Previous staff members who conducted research while they were employed by the University;
  • All Honorary staff, Adjunct staff and volunteersassociated with the University;
  • All students, including past students, of the University who engage or have engaged in research and/or research related activities.

Definitions

Term Definition
AAM Author Accepted Manuscript
Affiliation Formal recognition in a research output of an author’s relationship with the University, as specified in the HERDC Guidelines.
Authorship Agreement An agreement between eligible authors as to potential publications and associated roles.
Corresponding Author Senior or corresponding author carrying responsibility for liaison with publishers, communication with all authors and contributors and the maintenance of all records concerning authorship
ERA Excellence in Research for Australia
HERDC Higher Education Research Data Collection
Research Output A research output communicates or makes available the findings of research. A research output may be in hardcopy, electronic or other form.  Examples of research outputs include journal articles, book chapters, books, conference papers, reports, datasets, patents and patent applications, performances, videos and exhibitions.

Actions

Researchers must initially refer to the Research and Research Training Policy, which outlines the criteria for authorship, as specified in the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research.

  Activity Responsibility Steps
A Appoint Corresponding Author All contributors

For collaborations: the authors agree upon a Corresponding Author:

  • For sole publications, the individual author is the Corresponding Author

Corresponding authors hold responsibility for:

  • Identifying eligible authors
  • Documenting and maintaining authorship and correspondence
  • Managing communication pertaining to the work with the publisher/venue/facilitator
  • Lodging publication information and material in accordance with Federation University requirements
  • Ensuring ‘Federation University Australia' is identified in publication outlets/venues as the institution of affiliation
  • Consulting with all authors prior to submission and upon subsequent revisions
B

Develop Authorship Agreement*

*Use of the Federation University Authorship Agreement Template encouraged

Corresponding Author

All Contributors
  • For collaborations
  • Discuss authorship and other contributions at an early stage of the project
  • Document agreements reached including the roles and responsibilities of collaborators and retained with other project files
  • Review agreement periodically
  • Ensure authorship rights of HDR candidates are considered
C  Confirm Authorship

All contributors

PVCR - if required for out of contact authors
  • Identify all eligible authors and document their contributions. Determine authorship in relation to authorship criteria as outlined in the Research and Research Training Policy and the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research
  • Extend offer of authorship to all eligible authors, including HDRcandidates and document responses.
    • For out-of-contact authors: if an author cannot be contacted, the Pro Vice-Chancellor, Research may give approval on their behalf, noting the reason for their unavailability and that the publication can proceed provided that there are no reasonable grounds for believing that this person would object to being included as an author.
    • If an author is deceased, approval to publish should be sought from next of kin/power of attorney. If an author is deceased, this should be noted in the publication.
D Attribute Research Output Affiliation

Corresponding Authors,

Individual authors

Ensure Federation University Australia is attributed in the following cases:

  • Where resources and/or facilities of Federation University Australia have been used in the research leading to the output, including contribution to salary of researchers, other funding, resources, facilities, apparatus, human and administrative resources and where a FedUni staff member has acted as an adjunct at another institution.
E Acknowledge Research Output funding

Corresponding Authors,

Individual authors

Where funds for research have been directed through Federation University Australia accounts: 

  • Acknowledge all research funding sources, including in-kind, grants and other forms of research finance
  • Adhere to agreed acknowledgement requirements of specific funding agencies.
F Acknowledge Non-author Contributors

Corresponding Authors,

Individual authors
  • Acknowledge all those who have contributed to the research, facilities or materials, but whose contribution does not meet authorship criteria, as defined in the Research and Research Training Policy, such as laboratory assistants and technical writers.
  • Obtain and retain consent to be acknowledged from individuals who are to be named publicly.
    • For out-of-contact non-author contributors: if a non-author contributor cannot be contacted, the Pro Vice-Chancellor, Research may give approval on their behalf, noting the reason for their unavailability and that the publication can proceed provided that there are no reasonable grounds for believing that this person would object to being acknowledged.
G Confirm Declaration of Interests

Corresponding Authors

Individual authors

Supervisors/Heads of Academic Units

Centre Director
  • Ensure all perceived or actual conflicts of interest are declared in accordance with University policy/procedure.
  • Ensure declarations are noted by relevant parties, such as editors and publishers.
H Document Authorship Correspondence

Corresponding Authors

Individual authors

Supervisors/Heads of Academic Units

Centre Director
  • Maintain records of the authorship agreement, including any and all amendments, with other project documentation.
  • Ensure records are able to be accessed as needed or upon appropriate request.
  • Ensure staff or students, upon leaving the University, submit to their Institute/Centre/Directorate copies of authorship records for any research outputs.
I Address Authorship Disputes

Corresponding Authors

Individual authors

Research Advisor/s

Centre Director

PVCR

For authorship disputes between staff:

  • Where a dispute arises between authors, the immediate supervisor(s) must first be consulted to attempt a local resolution.
  • Where the supervisor is one of the potential authors or otherwise has any conflict of interest the dispute must be brought to the attention of the relevant Research Coordinator.
  • Where issues cannot be resolved at Institute/Centre level, or the relevant Research Coordinator or Director is in a supervisory relationship, or there is otherwise a conflict of interest concerning the publication, the matter must be referred to the Pro Vice-Chancellor, Research for resolution under University procedures.
  • An authorship dispute does not constitute an allegation of research misconduct unless it is alleged that there has been a breach of the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research.
  • For allegations of research misconduct in relation to authorship, refer to the University's Research Integrity and Misconduct Procedure.
J Submit Publication Information to to Research Services Federation Uni Author
  • Report all research publications (published versions only, no accepted or pre published versions) research.reporting@federation.edu.au, for the purposes of performance assessment (Refer to Federation University's Research Performance web page for further information.)
K Submit Publication Information to the Library Federation Uni Author
  • Unless an output is open access, all Author Accepted Manuscript versions of peer reviewed conference papers, journal articles and book chapters by University researchers should be sent to researchonline@federation.edu.au for deposit into Federation ResearchOnline.
  • See the relevant subject guide for specific details/exclusions.

Inclusion of conjointly authored works in theses

For further information on the inclusion of conjointly authored work in a PhD with Publications, please refer to the HDR Candidature Guidelines.

Supporting Documents

Forms

Forms

Responsibility

  • The Chief Operating Officer (as the Approval Authority) is responsible for monitoring the implementation, outcomes and scheduled review of this procedure.
  • The Director, Research and Innovation (as the Document Owner) is responsible for maintaining the content of this procedure as delegated by the Chief Operating Officer.

Promulgation

This procedure will be communicated throughout the University community via:

  1. A FedNews announcement and on the ‘Recently Approved Documents’ page on the University’s Policy Central website.
  2. Distribution of e-mails to Head of School / Head of Department / Universitystaff.

 

Implementation

This procedure will be implemented throughout the University via:

  1. A FedNews announcement and on the ‘Recently Approved Documents’ page on the University’s Policy Central website.

Records Management

Document title Location Responsible officer Minimum retention period
Authorship Agreement Corresponding Author Corresponding Author 7 years
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Policy Glossary

Approval Authority: Chief Operating Officer Original Issue 25/11/2015
Policy Sponsor: Director, Research and Innovation Current Version: 22/05/2025
CRICOS Provider Number 00103D Review Date: 22/05/2028
TEQSA Provider ID: PRV12151 Provider Category: Australian University
RTO Code 4909 Policy Code RS1957