The expectation to communicate In 2019, the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research called for a cultural shift toward communicating science (Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, 2019). The former Federal Minister of Education and Research, Anja Karliczek, urged scientists to communicate their research continuously and classified communication as a central task for universities and research organizations (Karliczek, 2020).

A how-to guide for academics who want to have their name on lots of papers.

*“The whole is other than the sum of its parts” *~ Aristotle~ In general, there are two styles of doctoral dissertations: monographs (thesis as a book), and cumulative thesis (thesis by publications/papers). In this article, I will share some insights with regard to cumulative dissertations based on my own experience.

Description It has been well recognized that power distribution plays an important role in economic development.

Assuring Appropriate Authorship. In our day-to-day work at GigaScience many of the most common and reoccurring problems we keep encountering relate to appropriate authorship. In this “publish or perish” world of science, getting authorship right is of course important.

It’s no secret that we have an inequality problem within the hallowed walls of the academy. Much focus has been dedicated to problems of inequality—of status, of wage, of job security, of resulting social mobility, and beyond—mainly between tenured faculty and the growing precariat of contract teaching labour.

In a series of short analyses we took a closer look on the practice of (co-)authorship in various disciplines, using a Scopus database (see www.elephantinthelab.org). We found significant differences among the subject areas that we analyzed. While in nearly all disciplines the mere number of authors per article increased (2010-2016), the average number of authors per paper in these disciplines varies considerably.

Scientists must compete for limited funding as well as for academic positions and recognition. Many factors contribute to success, but Hirsch’s h -index puts the emphasis squarely on citations (Hirsch, 2005). In such a system, it is perceived that more citations should lead to more funds, promotions, job security, et cetera.

Description The number of authors per article in the subject area Multidisciplinary is 3.3 on average with a maximum of 58 authors. The mean number of coauthors is decreasing by 0.1 per year in the respective time period (Figure 1). The articles in this analysis ( n = 1111) were cited 14.5 times on average with a maximum of 348 citations.

Description The number of authors per article in the subject area Mathematics is 2.9 on average with a maximum of 9 authors. The mean number of coauthors is increasing by 0.1 per year in the respective time period (Figure 1). The articles in this analysis ( n = 3657) were cited 8.2 times on average with a maximum of 357 citations.