The scientific integrity of a final product cannot be assessed without accurate attribution through careful assignment of authorship. The best practices described in this document apply to any EPA work product where authorship is designated, including but not limited to journal articles, reports, presentations, posters, documentation of models or software, communication products, technical support documents, and guidance documents.
This document is intended to provide a set of objective criteria and general standards that can be used to prevent or resolve authorship issues and ensure the appropriate acknowledgment of individual contributions in EPA work products.
Please discuss authorship early and often, beware of common authorship abuses, and report authorship abuses to the Scientific Integrity Official or your Deputy Scientific Integrity Official.
Authorship Best Practices Comments and Inquiries
You will need Adobe Reader to view some of the files on this page. See EPA’s About PDF page to learn more.- Authorship Best Practices (PDF)(40 pp, 4 MB)
- Authorship Best Practices (printer-friendly) (PDF)(36 pp, 3 MB)
- Authorship Best Practices: Essential Concepts (PDF)(2 pp, 261 K)
- Authorship Best Practices: Essential Concepts (printer-friendly) (PDF)(6 pp, 139 K)
- Authorship Bookmarker (PDF)(2 pp, 1 MB)
- Frequently Asked Questions for Designating Authors (PDF)(3 pp, 30 K)