OP006 - Branding and Authorship Policy

OP006 Branding and Authorship of Manuscripts and Other Products Using Data from the TBIMS National Database, Archived Module Datasets, and Ongoing TBIMS Module Studies
Review Committee: Research Start Date: 5/1/2012
Attachments: None Last Revised Date: 4/15/2024
Forms: None Last Reviewed Date: 4/15/2024

Introduction:

This policy and procedure addresses the issues of branding with the Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems name, as well as authorship of manuscripts, abstracts and other reports using data from the Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems (TBIMS) National Database, Archived Module Datasets, and ongoing TBIMS Module Studies (referred to as “TBIMS manuscripts” and “TBIMS publications” throughout this document). This also refers to any epubs or digital manuscripts.

Purpose:

To provide guidance for branding of TBIMS publications and for determining/assigning authorship on manuscripts and other reports that use data from the TBIMS National Database, Archived Module Datasets, and ongoing TBIMS Module Studies.

Scope:

  • Staff of the TBIMS Centers: All staff, students, and other related personnel involved in the NIDILRR-funded TBI Model Systems Centers who wish to use data from the TBIMS National Database, Archived Module Datasets, and ongoing TBIMS Module Studies.

  • Staff of the previously funded TBIMS Centers that are currently funded as TBIMS Longitudinal Follow-Up Centers.

  • Staff of non-TBIMS entities that have been designated as formal collaborators per SOP DS004 Policy and Procedure for Collaborative Relationships between TBIMS and Non-TBIMS Entities.

Note: This does not apply to public uses (i.e., external requests to utilize data of the TBIMS National Database or Archived Module Datasets). These users should follow the guidelines for acknowledgment of the TBIMS that is outlined in SOP 602d “External Notification Policy and Procedure for TBI Model Systems National Database Research”, and American Psychological Association (APA) or International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) guidelines for authorship.

Responsibilities:

All persons identified in the “Scope” statement will abide by this policy.

Policy/Procedural Steps:

  1. TBIMS Branding:

    1. Branding of a study with the TBIMS name is required if the data used is from the TBIMS National Database or from a TBIMS Module Study.

    2. Method of branding: The words “Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems” should appear somewhere in the title or in the author byline. It is the discretion of the authors how to implement this, within the requirements/guidelines of the journal or organization to which a manuscript/report is submitted. It is suggested that NIDILRR also be included. NIDILRR may be abbreviated rather than spelled out. Some possibilities follow:

      1. “_______: A NIDILRR Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems Study.”

      2. “A NIDILRR Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems Investigation of ______.”

      3. Bell, K….. and the NIDILRR Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems Headache Module Study Group. (The identities of members of the group who are not listed in the byline can be given in a footnote or endnote to the byline, or in the Acknowledgments, depending on journal requirements.)

    3. The following acknowledgement should be included:

“The contents of this (insert type of publication; e.g., book, report, film) were developed under a grant from the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR grant number 90XXXXXX). NIDILRR is a Center within the Administration for Community Living (ACL), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The contents of this (insert type of publication; e.g., book, report, film) do not necessarily represent the policy of NIDILRR, ACL, HHS, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.”

  1. Any manuscript, poster, presentation, and other product must include the following citation if the TBIMS National Database:

    Title: Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems National Database was used.

    Author: Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems Program

    Distributor: Traumatic Brain Injury Model Systems National Data and Statistical Center

    Persistent identifier: DOI 10.17605/OSF.IO/A4XZB

    Date: ____ [insert year of data release]

    URL: http://www.tbindsc.org

    Version: https://osf.io/a4xzb/

  2. For any manuscript, poster, presentation, and other product that is based on an Archived Module Dataset, it must include the Archived Module Dataset citation and DOC ID assigned when the dataset was archived.

  3. Use of branding can be waived if the journal to which the manuscript is being submitted does not allow it.

  4. Authors of a study using only local data, that was funded by their local TBIMS grant, may use the TBIMS branding if desired, but are not required to do so.

  1. Authorship of manuscripts using data from the TBIMS National Database, Archived Module Datasets, and ongoing TBIMS Module Studies:

    1. Authorship should be based on a substantive contribution to the manuscript. The following guidelines, proposed as a standard by the ICMJE, are to be applied on TBIMS manuscripts.

      1. Authorship credit should be based on 1) substantial contributions to conception and design, acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data; 2) drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content; and 3) final approval of the version to be published. Authors should meet conditions 1, 2, and 3.

      2. When a large, multicenter group has conducted the work, the group should identify the individuals who accept direct responsibility for the manuscript. These individuals should fully meet the criteria for authorship/contributorship defined above, and editors will ask these individuals to complete journal-specific author and conflict-of-interest disclosure forms. When submitting a manuscript authored by a group, the corresponding author should clearly indicate the preferred citation and identify all individual authors as well as the group name. Journals generally list other members of the group (i.e., non-authors) in the Acknowledgments. The NLM indexes the group name and the names of individuals the group has identified as being directly responsible for the manuscript; it also lists the names of collaborators if they are listed in Acknowledgments.

      3. Acquisition of funding, collection of data, or general supervision of the research group or of local data collectors alone does not constitute authorship.

      4. All persons designated as authors should qualify for authorship per the three criteria provided above, and all of those who qualify per the three criteria provided above should be listed as an author.

      5. Each author should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for appropriate portions of the content.

      6. All contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship may be listed in an Acknowledgments section. Examples of those who might be acknowledged include a person who provided purely technical help, writing assistance, or a department chairperson who provided only general support.

      7. Groups of persons who have contributed materially to the paper but whose contributions do not justify authorship may be listed under such headings as “clinical investigators” or “participating investigators,” and their function or contribution should be described—for example, “served as scientific advisors,” “critically reviewed the study proposal,” “collected data,” or “provided and cared for study patients.” Because readers may infer their endorsement of the data and conclusions, these persons must give written permission to be acknowledged.

    2. The primary author of the TBIMS manuscript has the responsibility to ensure that each co-author listed has made a contribution substantial enough to warrant authorship, and all persons who deserve authorship are listed as an author.

    3. It is suggested that issues of authorship and of acknowledgment of collaborators be discussed as soon as group members (interested in publishing a paper on a specific topic) have been identified, via the TBIMS Notification process. It is recommended that those interested in collaborating on a notification specify what authorship-qualifying contributions they intend to make. Upon finalization of the notification output (e.g., manuscript, presentation, etc.), it is recommended that those interested in being listed as authors specify what authorship-qualifying contributions they have made. In the case of TBIMS manuscripts, opportunities for “substantial contributions to conception and design, acquisition of data” are limited. Furthermore, only a limited number of people can realistically make a meaningful contribution to the “analysis and interpretation of data”. Journals have begun to limit the number of authors and/or to ask for specific declarations of the contribution of each proposed author, so as to decrease incidents of authorship inflation. TBIMS investigators should heed the letter and the spirit of the APA and ICMJE authorship requirements. Those who have not met authorship requirements should decline authorship; those who have participated in some capacity but who have not met authorship requirements can be listed in the acknowledgements.

Training requirements:

None

Compliance:

All persons identified in the “Scope” statement must comply with this procedure.

References:

http://www.icmje.org/ethical_1author.html

History:

Date Action
5/1/2012 New Policy Approved by Project Directors
6/1/2015 Revised acknowledgement language to include NIDILRR, ACL and the Department of Health and Human Services
12/7/2019 Full review completed
2/18/2021 Added required use of citation for the TBIMS National Database and clarified other SOP language
9/20/2023 Added language regarding authorship-qualifying contributions
4/15/2024 Clarified branding for Archived Module Datasets and ongoing TBIMS Module Studies

Review schedule:

At least every 5 years.