Best Practice Statement about Contacting Potential Authors

It is the responsibility of the lead or corresponding author to give all potential authors - as defined in University Authorship Policy 7-020 and the  ICMJE guidelines - the opportunity to earn their authorship by contributing to the drafting and/or revision of the work to be published. However, sometimes it can be challenging to get a response from potential authors, causing delays in the progress and submission of the manuscript. In such instances, it is reasonable that the lead or corresponding author make at least three documented, good faith attempts to contact potential authors over a period of approximately 2-4 weeks, including an initial invitation, a follow-up reminder, and a final deadline notice. Efforts to contact potential authors should begin early, and when appropriate, multiple communication methods should be used. All contact efforts should be documented. The key research integrity standard is not the number of attempts made, but whether the lead or corresponding author can demonstrate that they have made reasonable efforts to determine authorship interest, provide every potential author the opportunity to contribute to manuscript writing and review, and obtain final approval before proceeding with publication. Where good faith efforts to obtain a response from a potential author go without reply, the final deadline notice should communicate that a failure to respond by the deadline will be understood as an inability to complete the requirements for authorship as outlined in University Policy 7-020 and the  ICMJE guidelines.