Perception of Iranian Researchers and Medical Journal Editors about Authorship and Related Ethical Issues in Medical Publications

Iran has recently experienced a significant increase in the number of publications in the field of medical sciences. This has made authorship and other related ethical issues very important. Our aim was to explore the perception of Iranian researchers and medical journal editors about authorship and related ethical issues in medical publications.

A questionnaire was sent to editors of Iranian medical journals through e-mail, which included questions about definition of authorship, compliance of Iranian researches with this definition, possible reasons for the incompliance and their suggestions for improving the compliance.

Out of the 112 responses received, 52% agreed with the authorship definition suggested by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors and they considered it applicable in Iran as well. They believed that this definition is applied in less than 50% of Iranian publications the most important reasons are: authors’ egocentricity (71%), pressures and limitations imposed by supervisors and line managers (50%), and unfamiliarity with the related principles and regulations. The most frequent suggested punishments were a formal warning and preventing the author from the benefits of the paper. Designation and implementation of appropriate regulations (52%), educational programs (39%), and other preventive actions (39%) were considered as the most important strategies for reducing this problem.

Most of the respondents agreed with the international standard definition of "author" and found it appropriate for Iran. They believed that implementation of relevant regulations, in addition to educational programs and appropriate rewards and punishments can improve compliance with these standards.