Bioethics Authorship in Context: How Trends in Biomedicine Challenge Bioethics

Abstract

Resnik and Master (2011) propose a set of authorship guidelines for what they describe as “conceptual” papers in bioethics. These guidelines specifically address who should count as an author within multiply-authored conceptual research publications, given that various guidelines exist regarding empirical research in bioethics. Their arguments attend to an important and controversial issue, yet they do not take account of the broader historical and social contexts surrounding the growth of multiply-authored research publications. In this paper, we outline some of the characteristics of that context, particularly the rise of “big science” and its effects on patterns of practice (including authorship criteria) in the biomedical sciences and in turn bioethics. We then point to ways in which taking account of this context leads to challenges to some of Resnik and Master’s conclusions, and sketch alternative models that could overcome those difficulties.