Moreover, the credit implied by authorship is often used as a measure of scientists productivity in evaluating them for employment, promotions, grants, and prizes. Although researchers are strongly encouraged to share materials such as reagents, animals, and tissues, the provision of such materials in and of itself does not constitute sufficient grounds for inclusion as an author. In multi-authored papers, the significance of the order in which authors are listed varies widely according to common practice in the field or to the policy established by the publisher and the journal and thus cannot reasonably be stipulated in these Guidelines. However, it is usual in neuroscience and allied fields for authors to be listed in descending order of their contribution to the paper, with the exception that the senior author is often listed last. Any part of an article essential to its main conclusions must be the responsibility of at least one author.
Honorary authorship is inconsistent with the definition of authorship.
An honorary author is any individual listed as an author who has not made a substantive intellectual contribution to the work as defined in 1.3.1. Honorary authorship is a misrepresentation, implying an intellectual contribution that was not made. It also distorts the publication record, making it a less reliable measure of productivity. Moreover, should honorary authors be unable to adequately discuss the work, this will reflect poorly on them and their co-authors. Finally, honorary authors risk associating themselves with work that may later be the subject of a misconduct investigation.