Academic Authorship and STEM Diversity

[Agriculture, Life and Veterinary Sciences, and Cooperative Extension Weekly Bulletin]

Dear Colleagues,

In late January, I attended three events that had a large impact on me ¨C UArizona/National Academies of Sciences, Engineering & Medicine Townhall on Advancing STEM Equity at Minority Serving Institutions, Women in Science and Engineering Excellence Banquet, and the Norton School¡¯s opening reception for the Work x Family exhibit. I was impressed, enthralled and also appalled by things I heard at each event.

I want to share with you the attached Times Higher Education article. Clearly there are discipline differences in publishing mores, but our society expects minimum standards of equity and fairness as well as compliance with equality laws. The article resonated with me as I have experienced an incident like those described. When at another institution, I observed a senior administrator¡¯s poor handling of a scientific integrity issue stemming from intellectual contribution and authorship. I believe senior and experienced people with the power of position and experience owe a duty of care to the less empowered.

For most papers in my CV, first and/or senior authors are marked as joint. "Rules of engagement" were clear from the start. However, my CV also has papers during my PhD work that did not recognize my contribution as I chose to recognize people as a PI. My CV also doesn¡¯t have papers that should be there, as the article describes. I also have seen practices in colleagues that I believe do not meet the standards of equity, fairness and inclusion our society expects today, let alone our own moral and ethical compasses.

Also attached: what I consider a seminal paper ¨C why teams in science are good for us and the society funding our work.

I believe our enterprise leads the university in STEM diversity. We¡¯re the most connected to the Nations, with the greatest connection to all parts of the state, and we can improve. Our diversity obliges us to set the standard as leaders in STEM equity, fairness and inclusion. I encourage everyone leading research to have a discussion with their team about the authorship issue. For some it may be short. I ask CALS unit heads and Cooperative Extension county directors to proactively ensure equity, fairness and inclusion in publications.

Please contact Parker Antin<https://directory.arizona.edu/phonebook?cn=parker+antin&type=&lastname=&firstname=&email=&phone=&attribute_7=>, Kirsten Limesand<https://directory.arizona.edu/phonebook?cn=kirsten+limesand&type=&lastname=&firstname=&email=&phone=&attribute_7=>, Jeff Silvertooth<https://directory.arizona.edu/phonebook?cn=jeff+silvertooth&type=&lastname=&firstname=&email=&phone=&attribute_7=>, Jeannie McLain<https://directory.arizona.edu/phonebook?cn=jean+mclain&type=&lastname=&firstname=&email=&phone=&attribute_7=> or me if you feel you may not be being, or have not been, treated appropriately.

Related Important Resources:
If you ever feel discriminated, harassed or retaliated against by university employees, visitors, vendors or contractors based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or genetic information, please report it immediately to the UArizona Office of Institutional Equity at 520©\621©\9449 or equity at email.arizona.edu<mailto:equity at email.arizona.edu>.

To report discriminatory conduct by students, please contact the Dean of Students Office, 520©\621©\7057 or http://deanofstudents.arizona.edu.

If you witness what you believe is discrimination, harassment or retaliation, report it immediately to OIE. For concerns about suspected ethics and compliance violations, a report may be made anonymously to a non-university party by contacting the Ethics and Compliance Hotline at 866-364-1908. The hotline is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Regards,
Shane



Shane C. Burgess
Vice President for Agriculture, Life and Veterinary Sciences, and Cooperative Extension
Charles-Sander Dean of the College of Agriculture & Life Sciences
Director, Arizona Experiment Station
THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA

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The University of Arizona is located statewide on the ancestral homelands of indigenous peoples.
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