Various practical or impractical suggestions have emerged during the long-standing debate on this issue. One is that each author should provide, and the journal should then publish, an account of that author’s particular contribution to the work. But a different view of the problem, and perhaps of the solution, comes as we get to university committee on appointments and promotions, which is where the authorship rubber really meets the road. Half a lifetime of involvement with this process has taught me how much authorship matters. I have watched committees attempting to decode sequences of names, agonize over whether a much-cited paper was really the candidate’s work or a coauthor’s, and send back recommendations asking for more specificity about the division of responsibility.

Problems of this kind change the argument, supporting the case for asking authors to define their own roles. After all, if quality judgments about individuals are to be made on the basis of their personal contributions, then the judges better know what they did. But if questions arise about the validity of the work as a whole, whether as challenges to its conduct or as evaluations of its influence in the field, a team is a team, and the members should share the credit or the blame. (367 words)

51. According to the passage, there is a tendency that scientific papers__.

A. are getting more complicated

B. are dealing with bigger problems

C. are more of a product of team work
D. are focusing more on natural than on social sciences

52. One of the problems with multiple authorship is that it is hard____.

A. to allocate the responsibility if the paper goes wrong

B. to decide on how much contribution each reviewer has made

C. to assign the roles that the different authors are to play

D. to correspond with the authors when the readers feel the need to

53. According to the passage, authorship is important when ______.

A. practical or impractical suggestions of the authors are considered

B. appointments and promotions of the authors are involved

C. evaluators need to review the publication of the authors

D. the publication of the authors has become much-cited

54. According to the passage, whether multiple authors of a paper should be taken collectively or individually depends on ______.

A. whether judgments are made about the paper or its authors

B. whether it is the credit or the blame that the authors need to share

C. how many authors are involved in the paper

D. where the paper has been published

55. The best title for the passage can be _____.

A. Writing Scientific Papers: Publish or Perish

B. Collaboration and Responsibility in Writing Scientific Papers

C. Advantages and Disadvantages of Team Science