Philip Wyatt’s commentary on authorship was quite interesting. I help to maintain the authorship lists for two large collaborations in particle physics. I have three comments that may be of interest:
‣ High-energy physics collaborations have authorship rules that may conflict with the guidelines of the journals, and most authors may not be able to defend the conclusions in the paper. Physical Review Letters states “Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the concept, design, execution or interpretation of the research study. . . . Other individuals who have contributed to the study should be acknowledged, but not identified as authors” (http://www.aps.org/policy/statements/02_2.cfm).
‣ Remarkably, I am in a field where people have not, on average, read a majority of their own papers.
‣ I have no realistic solution.
