Credit Where Credit Is Due: Recommendations for Inclusive and Ethical Authorship Practices in Ecology

Abstract Although authorship is central to the career advancement of many ecologists, the processes used to assign authorship credit on papers are not always clear, ethical, or equitable. We developed the concept of authorship climate (perceptions of fairness related to procedures, communication practices, and outcomes of authorship decisions) and measured it using a survey of early‐career scientists from four fields across U.S. Ph.D.‐granting institutions. The results pointed to important differences in authorship climate perceptions across fields, career stages, and demographics. This paper provides an overview of the results, especially for the field of biology that encompasses ecology, and provides recommendations for improving authorship climate for ecologists.