By Torben Haugaard Jensen, AAU Communication and Public Affairs. Photo: AAU

For an early-career researcher, it can be difficult to say no to an older colleague who insists on having their name on an article, even though they have not contributed significantly to the publication.

Approximately one third of the total of 446 PhD students at the Faculty of Medicine indicate problems with authorship when they collaborate with colleagues on scientific articles. For example, they may experience being pressured from above by PhD supervisors and being told that this is common practice. 

This has been shown by a study of co-authoring practice at the doctoral school conducted by the PhD committee. The results are consistent with both national and international studies. 

The management at the Faculty of Medicine wants to create better conditions for collaboration and scientific practice. Professor Ulrik Baandrup therefore has been appointed as a special partner responsible for providing feedback in order to support good research practice and collaboration in the health science environment.

He is nationally and internationally recognized for his research on cardiovascular pathology. He has a long career behind him in the hospital system, and he is now looking forward to embarking on a new chapter as the Faculty of Medicine's first Named Person.

"I will provide feedback and advice to PhD students and researchers on questions and disagreements about authorship. It is my wish and hope that together we can figure it out," says Ulrik Baandrup.

Importance of advice outside management 

At present, the responsibility for advising on good scientific practice and issues of research ethics lies with management, i.e. the head of department or the head of the research group.

However, the Named Person scheme is intended to ensure that the individual researcher can receive ongoing, impartial advice and feedback from a person who is not part of the management. An impartial dialogue is a prerequisite for expanding knowledge on current principles and guidelines on authorship, both written and unwritten, says Professor Pascal Madeleine, Head of the Doctoral School.

"The survey points to significant challenges in questionable authorship practices at the faculty, and we need to address this. I am sure that impartial advice is a step towards even better scientific practice at the Faculty of Medicine," says Pascal Madeleine.

SSH was first

The Faculty of Medicine is not a frontrunner at AAU when it comes to Named Persons. The Faculty of Humanities had a similar arrangement before the faculty was merged with the Faculty of Social Sciences in 2022.

The management of the SSH Faculty decided, on the recommendation of the Academic Council, to continue the scheme after a pilot phase.

"The scheme was made permanent because it can help support researchers and PhD students in handling and resolving some of the disagreements and conflicts that can arise in implementing and reporting research," says Søren Kristiansen, Vice Dean for Research and Innovation at the SSH Faculty.

The faculty appointed Lise Rolandsen Agustín, Associate Professor in the Department of Politics and Society, and Jes Lynning Harfeld, Associate Professor in the Department of Culture and Learning as Named Persons. 

Together, they will boost competences and help spread knowledge on good scientific practice and research ethics widely at the faculty.

Translated by LeeAnn Iovanni, AAU Communication and Public Affairs