Introduction: Librarians who collaborate on evidence synthesis (ES) research projects meet the criteria for co-authorship as defined by COPE, ICMJE and other standards. However, both anecdotal and research evidence indicates that librarians often don’t receive proper credit for their work on ES reviews; and, in some cases, their intellectual property may be misused. This occurs despite widespread use of memorandums formally outlining the rights and responsibilities of librarians and faculty within ES collaborations. There is usually little recourse for librarians to address problematic faculty behavior.
Description: After a faculty member misappropriated their search strategy for a scoping review, this librarian reviewed copyright provisions in the Brock University-Brock University Faculty Association collective agreement and consulted Brock's Responsible Conduct of Research Policy. The university’s Associate Vice-President Research concurred that the faculty member had violated policy terms covering plagiarism, authorship and intellectual property rights. While choosing to forego a formal complaint under the policy, this presenter revised their team’s ES memorandum of understanding to clarify language around librarians’ intellectual property rights and amplify potential consequences for breaching the memorandum. Terms of the agreement can be altered to suit specific partnerships if all parties agree.
Outcomes: The memorandum was revised in collaboration with ES team members and reviewed by research administrators before final posting in November. Further outcomes will be available for the June conference.
Discussion: Collective agreement provisions, institutional research policies and support from research administrators could help other librarians strengthen co-authorship memorandums and protect their intellectual property rights.