“The College expects its researchers to publish their results in refereed journals of the highest standard. All authors listed on a paper must be familiar with its content, must be able to identify and take responsibility for their contribution and justify their inclusion as authors. The practice of honorary or guest authorship is totally unacceptable. The acquisition of funding, the provision of laboratory or other facilities or the collection of data alone does not justify authorship, nor does general supervision of a research group. The contributions of collaborators and others who directly assist or indirectly support the research, including funding agencies, should also be properly acknowledged. It is imperative that researchers are given due credit for their work and are included as authors (and in the proper positions in the order of authors) in publications when this is warranted. If not, they should then be included in the acknowledgements.
If a researcher feels that s/he has been unfairly treated regarding authorship of a publication s/he should inform the Head of School of Postgraduate Studies whose responsibility it is to investigate the matter fully and to make every effort to come to a satisfactory agreement with the parties involved. If this cannot be achieved the issue will be investigated by a Committee comprising the Chairperson of the RCSI Postgraduate Students’ Association or the Chairperson of the RCSI Academic Staff Association as appropriate, the Dean of the Medical Faculty and the Head of School of Postgraduate Studies. Although the aggrieved researcher has every right to complain to the editor of the journal in which the article has appeared an internal resolution according to the above procedures is preferred”. (Section 7, Publication Practice, RCSI Guidelines for Good Research Practice).
Reference: Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals: Ethical Considerations in the Conduct and Reporting of Research: Authorship and Contributorship : http://www.icmje.org/ethical_1author.html