The authorship list in science: Junior physicists' perceptions of who appears and why

A questionnaire probing the distribution of author ship credit was given to postdoctoral associates ("postdocs") in older to determine their awareness of the professional society's ethical statement an authorship, the extent of communication with their supervisors about authorship criteria, and the appropriateness of authorship assignments on submitted papers. Results indicate a low, awareness of the professional society's ethical statement and that little communication takes place between postdocs and supervisors about authorship criteria. A substantial amount of authorship cr-edit given to supervisors and other workers is perceived by the postdocs to violate the professional society's ethical statement.