Beyond Checking a Box: Embracing and Navigating Ethical Authorship

BACKGROUND: The Oncology Nursing Society has adopted the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) authorship guidelines for its journals. Real-world application of these guidelines can be challenging if individuals and organizations are not familiar with the guidelines or ethical practices regarding assigning authorship. Ethical assignments of authorship promote professional integrity and scholarship. OBJECTIVES: The ICMJE authorship guidelines are reviewed and defined for oncology nurses to develop an understanding of how to apply them within their scholarly work. METHODS: Consequences and potential harms of unethical authorship are reviewed via case studies. Implications for practice are discussed to demonstrate how oncology nurses can influence their professional work environments to achieve ethical authorship through application of the guidelines. FINDINGS: The ICMJE authorship guidelines provide a framework to guide oncology nurses in achieving ethical authorship in dissemination. Safeguards to promote ethical authorship practices include being aware of the guidelines, discussing authorship at the initiation of a project, continuing discussion during the project, and speaking up when guidelines are disregarded.