Objectives

After completing this unit you will be able to: 

  • Add authors to a resource.

Authorship

Along with licensing, authorship is a significant step in sharing an adapted resource. Authorship of OER looks a bit different from authorship in academia and other disciplines. Check out some examples to determine what best practices are around authorship. Review the author list of the original resource below, followed by two adaptations. To view the full author list you will need to click the title to open the record.

This laboratory module, published on CourseSource, leads introductory biology students in the exploration of a basic set of bioinformatics concepts and tools.
phylogenetics, bioinformatics, sequencing, FASTA, NCBI, NIBLSE, algorithms, incubators, BLAST, multiple sequence alignment, CourseSource, phylogram, Zika virus
4.8K
833
8
1
05.2019
This exercise leads upper level biology majors in an inquiry-based excursion to determine how similar the signaling molecule, myostatin, is between humans and mice, using a basic set of bioinformatics tools and concepts.
1.4K
2.5K
0
0
06.2019
This laboratory module is a modification of the original published on CourseSource with a focus on plant biology. In the final activity, students conduct a BLAST to compare histone protein sequences between Arabidopsis, moss and yeast.
phylogenetics, bioinformatics, sequencing, FASTA, NCBI, plant biology, NIBLSE, algorithms, incubators, Plant and Fungal Evolution, BLAST, multiple sequence alignment, CourseSource, phylogram
2.3K
1.6K
0
0
05.2019

Reflect

What do you notice? Take a moment to complete the reflection below:


Best Practices for Authorship

If you open the Authors tab of your draft resource, you'll notice that you are the only listed author. The QUBES resource system assumes that the submitter of the adaptation is the primary author of the modified work. The system also automatically removes the authors of the original work. While you may not be the sole author and contributor of the modified work, you should not add the original authors back to the author list, unless you collaborated with them on the adaptation. This is important for several reasons:

  1. Authorship implies approval. If you did not collaborate with the authors on your modification, you should not associate their name with the new work without their explicit approval. 
  2. The automatic connection between the adapted work and the original is sufficient attribution to the original authors. This acts as a clear delineation of their work and yours, while providing a direct connection for any user to see where specific ideas originated. 

Personal Considerations

It is important to consider how these policies affect your participation in Open Education. When submitting original works, or adapting material with a more liberal license you should think critically about what those licenses mean and your connection to others' adaptation of your work.

Additionally, throughout your FMN you may collaborate significantly with other participants and wish to include them as an author. It is critical to be up front about these decisions and have open discussions with your collaborators to avoid potential conflicts. 


Update Authorship

If needed, update the authorship of your draft resource. 

  1. Open your draft resource. 
    1. Your draft resource can be found in the publications list of your project.
  2. Click the "Authors" tab. 
  3. Click "Select author(s)."
  4. If the authors appear in the project team, click their names to select them. 
  5. If the authors do not appear in the project team, click "Add an author" in the bottom right corner. 
    1. You can then choose to begin typing the author's name to select their QUBES account, or enter their information manually.
    2. Click "add author."
  6. Click "Save Selection."
  7. Complete the Status Check

Status Check

Evaluate your Authors list using the checklist below: 

  • No authors from the original resource are listed
  • Individuals who made significant contributions to the adaptation are listed
  • Each author entry includes a first and last name
  • Each author entry includes an institution
  • Each author entry is associated with a QUBES account, if possible

Next: Files & Licenses Revisited