Ten Simple Rules for Being a Co-author on a Many-Author Non-Empirical Paper

Many-author non-empirical papers include “how to” articles, recommendations or consensus statements, roadmaps for future research, catalogs of ideas, or calls to action. These papers benefit the research community and broader academic ecosystem by addressing unmet needs or introducing new perspectives and approaches. Large, diverse authorship teams that examine an issue from many different perspectives can create valuable resources that individual co-authors could not develop independently, or in smaller groups. Realizing the potential of many-author non-empirical papers, however, requires very different strategies than researchers would typically use to write papers with fewer authors. A core team of lead writers typically work together to lead the content generation and writing processes, while many co-authors collaboratively create content and provide feedback on outlines and drafts. Challenges for co-authors may include learning to write a different type of paper, adapting to high volume feedback, and understanding the very diverse perspectives shared by fellow co-authors. This paper outlines ten simple rules for being a co-author on a many-author non-empirical paper. Although the rules were developed for papers with at least 30 authors, some rules may be useful for many-author research papers, or for non-empirical papers with fewer authors. Co-authors may also want to consult our companion paper on ten simple rules for leading a many-author non-empirical paper, as understanding the challenges faced by lead writers will help co-authors to contribute more efficiently and effectively.