Doctoral Students' Beliefs About Authorship Credit for Dissertations

This study used 8 vignettes to investigate the beliefs of 326 doctoral students in school psychology concerning credit for authorship of an article based on the dissertation. The vignettes varied according to who originated the topic of the dissertation (student or advisor) and who wrote an article based on the dissertation and received credit for authorship on that article. Responses to the vignettes indicated that respondents believed it is more desirable and ethical for a dissertation design to be that of the student rather than of the advisor. Respondents also believed that it is more desirable and ethical for the student to be either sole or first author of an article based on the dissertation, regardless of who (student or advisor) originated the topic.