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Responsible authorship culture is a key aspect of scientific integrity. A working group convened by the US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, in which we participated as journal editors, concluded that for a more responsible culture to endure, authorship decisions must be anchored in three interconnected principles: credit, accountability and transparency (V. Kiermer et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 123, e2531268123; 2026).

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Nature 652, 266 (2026)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-026-00997-9

A version of this article is also published in JAMA, PLoS Biology and PLoS Medicine.

Competing Interests

V.K. is Chief Scientific Officer of the Public Library of Science (PLOS) and is Co-Chair of the Contributor Role Taxonomy (CRediT) Standing Committee of the National Information Standards Organization (NISO).. K.B.-D. is Editor in Chief of JAMA and JAMA Network, published by the American Medical Association. M.S. is Editor in Chief of Nature, published by Springer Nature.

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A responsible authorship culture is needed — it is a collective responsibility