If I hire a Research Assistant for one of my research projects and pay the monthly salary (full-time), and his main task is to collect the data, sometimes support me by doing data analysis, interview conduct, etc. Should I include his name as an author of the paper. Is there any obligation to include or exclud his name in the author section.
Thanksgiving
Shuvro
You are paying him for his services, then no need to add his name.
For one to qualify as a co-author, one must have made "substantial" contribution to the study. The substantial contribution begins from the design all the way to report writing and editing. So your hired RA does not qualify for inclusion, but qualifies to be acknowledged in the paper.
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Shuvro, it appears as if the RA's work towards the production of the final paper could be deemed as relatively substantial enough to warrant their name being included on the article. However, this issue still remains an emotive and unresolved one regarding what could count as 'substantial' contribution to warrant inclusion. Interesting...
Hi Dear
No need to add as an author. You can mention in the acknowledgement about his contribution.
Basing off on Joseph's and John's comments above, I think the tasks performed by the RA in your research are pertinent to the research design, research article, and merits authorship. Data collection, conducting interviews, and data analysis are 'substantial' and reflect the research results in the article. To avoid such a predicament in the future, it is important that you and the RA(s) from the onset of the project have a clear understanding of what merits authorship. If you run a lab/research group and haven't developed guidelines and procedures for the lab yet, you might want to consider doing the same.
If your RA has performed substantial work like literature review, data analysis and drafting first draft for you, it is expected that you include his name as co-author.
Of course if he was just handing out surveys and collecting them, and photocopying them for you, then he should not be a co-author.
If your RA came in to implement a project you had already designed by collecting data as per the data collection procedures you had formulated. Later went on to assist analyse the data as per the plan/instructions you had laid out, then the RA deserves to be Acknowledged. Substantial contribution means being part of the entire process. So in my view you should acknowledge the RAs contribution, but not as a co-author.
To be an Author, one needs to have participated not only in the data analysis and interpretation, but also the drafting and review of the research manuscript. Other than all of the above there are certain conditions made during the recruitment regarding possession of research work.
Hi Shuvro Sen ,
That's a good point to raise... I think the intellectual contribution matters here. In graduate schools, if students are involved in only data collection, they don't get credit for co-authorship. However, if the students make intellectual contribution through writing in a paper, they get co-authorship. I think research Universities have specific policy regarding this, you may search online. I am guessing you may emulate or take idea from this model and apply in your case, whether you should include your GA as co-author or not.
All the best...
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