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NEWSROOM MEDLIB-ED JMLA

Advocating for Authorship

Librarians are frequently not granted authorship, despite making significant intellectual contributions to systematic reviews and evidence synthesis publications, and meeting authorship criteria specified by COPE and ICMJE.

Download the Authorship Statement
Endorse the Statement

Recognizing Librarians and Information Professionals as Authors on Evidence Synthesis Publications

MLA members requested that the MLA Board of Directors address this issue with ICMJE and develop a statement that individual librarians can use to advocate for authorship.

The MLA Board has approved the Statement, “It’s Time to Acknowledge Authorship for Librarians and Information Professionals on Evidence Synthesis Publications,” in response to this issue of librarians not receiving authorship on evidence synthesis publications, such as guidelines and systematic reviews. This statement was developed in collaboration with the members making the initial request and incorporated feedback from prior chairs of the Systematic Review and Research caucuses, among others.

MLA’s hope is that this statement raises awareness about, and ultimately increases, librarian co-authorship on evidence synthesis publications. Librarians and information professionals are welcome to use the Statement to advocate for recognition when their authorship is being questioned.

The Canadian Health Libraries Association / Association des bibliothèques de la santé du Canada (CHLA/ABSC) has co-signed the statement, and MLA calls on other organizations and publications to indicate their endorsed support by completing the form below and submitting a request. 

Download MLA’s Authorship Statement (PDF)

Complete the form below to provide endorsed support of the statement.

Endorse the MLA and CHLA/ABSC Authorship Statement

Librarians and information professionals have a vital role in the development of evidence synthesis publications, such as guidelines and systematic reviews. These contributions include refining clinical questions, identifying appropriate resources, performing comprehensive literature searches, providing reproducible search strategies, and writing the methods section of the manuscript.

In accordance with Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) authorship and contributorship guidance and International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) authorship criteria, librarians and information professionals merit authorship on evidence synthesis publications, such as guidelines and systematic reviews, for their intellectual contribution to the final work.

MLA invites publishers, institutions, and information professional organizations to partner with us to ensure adherence to authorship criteria by signing on to the full statement.

Please note the organization name as it should appear as a co-signing organization.
Authorization(Required)

Thank you for endorsing the MLA and CHLA/ABSC Authorship Statement. We appreciate your support!

Please select the “Submit” button below to send your authorization.

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