I took a look at the paper cited by Jeffrey Evans, and I'm shocked that Ecology published this. This description of determining the order of authors is grossly inadequate. How many brownie judges were there? Were the judges blinded as to the identity of the cooks? What rating system did they use (and was it one with demonstrated validity and reliability?) Was the difference in quality of brownies statistically significant (and what test was used?) What ingredients, what model oven, what temperature, etc.? Without additional information it is impossible to be sure whether this method of determining authorship is more objective than the customary approaches. I can't believe this slipped through peer review.
Jeffrey Evans wrote: > See footnote on this paper: > http://www.jstor.org/view/00129658/di960343/96p0028g/0 > > Ecology 73(2):639-647 > > "Order of authorship determined by brownie bake-off." > > Jeff > > -----Original Message----- > From: Ecological Society of America: grants, jobs, news > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Fabrice De Clerck > Sent: Monday, September 18, 2006 10:16 AM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: Guidelines for Authorship > > I think this is an interesting and important theme. In several recent > papers, two co-authors and I really put in equal amounts of effort, > and feel that there should be a footnote stating "Equal Authorship, > authors listed alphabetically". However there appears to be little > precedence for this. Does anyone know of any examples? > > Cheers, > Fabrice > > On Sep 18, 2006, at 7:35 AM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > > >> Sarmia et al. - in anticipation of a thread that may develop on the >> topic >> of authorship, and as a bit of a plug for our upcoming paper: >> >> In an article scheduled for the October issue of Frontiers in >> Ecology and >> the Environment, we explore trends in authorship in ecology, >> discuss the >> need for guidelines for author inclusion and byline order, and >> recommend >> several simple ways to better communicate the contribution of >> individual >> authors to the readership at large. >> >> The citation is: >> >> Weltzin, J.F., R.T. Belote, L.T. Williams, J.K. Keller, and E.C. >> Engel. >> 2006. Authorship in ecology: attribution, accountability, and >> responsibility. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 4(8):in >> press. >> >> I would be pleased to distribute a pdf reprint of the article after 1 >> October to anyone who requests a copy. >> >> Cheers, >> >> Jake >> >> Jake F. Weltzin >> Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology >> 569 Dabney Hall >> University of Tennessee >> Knoxville, Tennessee 37996-1610 USA >> Cell phone: 865-207-5773 >> Fax: 865-974-3067 >> E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >> Homepage: http://eeb.bio.utk.edu/weltzin/ >> ******************************************************************** >> >> >> >> -----"Ecological Society of America: grants, jobs, news" >> <[email protected]> wrote: ----- >> >> >> To: [email protected] >> From: Samia Carrillo-Percastegui <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >> Sent by: "Ecological Society of America: grants, jobs, news" >> <[email protected]> >> Date: 09/15/2006 08:18PM >> Subject: Guidelines for Authorship >> >> Can anyone give me some input on what are or should be the guidelines >> for authorship a peer reviewed paper? >> thanks a lot. >> >> >> >> >> Samia Carrillo-Percastegui >> [EMAIL PROTECTED] >> >> Remaining silent about the destruction of nature is an endorsement of >> that destruction >> > > ***************************************************** > Fabrice De Clerck PhD > > Landscale Ecologist/Ecologo de Paisaje > Dept. Agricultura y Agroforesteria > CATIE 7170, Turrialba, Costa Rica > Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Phone: (506) 558-2596 > Fax: (506) 558-2046 > Web: www.catie.ac.cr > > Adjunct Associate > Tropical Agriculture Program > The Earth Institute at Columbia University > Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Skype: fadeclerck > Web:www.earthinstitute.columbia.edu/mvp/ > ******************************************************* > "Everything not given is lost" > -- Daniel Taub Assistant Professor of Biology Southwestern University 1001 East University Ave Georgetown TX 78626 USA Phone: 512 863-1583 Fax: 512 863-1696 [EMAIL PROTECTED]
