policies

MorPhiC Publication Policy

Version 0.9, Jun 01, 2023

Primary Author Stephan Schürer; based on the GREGoR Consortium Publications Policy and the 4DN Publication Policy

Background

The publication policy established by the MorPhiC Consortium is meant to (1) create transparency and foster collaboration within the Consortium, (2) encourage and facilitate timely circulation of MorPhiC Consortium work products, (3) ensure appropriate use of Consortium data, tool, and other resources, (4) support adherence to authorship principles, (5) comply with the NIH Public Access Policy, and (6) maintain a complete, up-to-date list of MorPhiC publications.

This policy encourages the open sharing of information within the network. In keeping with this principle, sharing of manuscript drafts and solicitation of feedback by network members before submission is strongly encouraged.

Scope

This policy applies to any scientific work carried out by MorPhiC members (core, affiliate, and partner) where MorPhiC funding is used for data generation, development of tools, infrastructure, or data analysis. The policy applies to full papers including conference papers and communications; conference abstracts are mentioned below. Consortium commentaries, perspectives, and “best practices” manuscripts are also within scope.

This policy does not apply to the following activities:

  • Publications from non-MorPhiC members
  • Publications led by non-MorPhiC members for which one or more MorPhiC investigators provide consultation and input that does not use data or resources from MorPhiC
  • Publications from MorPhiC members that result from prior work or work not primarily or partially related to the MorPhiC program and that do not use MorPhiC resources.
  • Note while not in scope of the policy, guidance on acknowledgements language is provided below

Should there be uncertainty about whether the policy applies, investigators are encouraged to contact the MorPhiC DRACC or, if needed, the MorPhiC Steering Committee.

Policy

Notification and Comment Process

Notification

Notification of MorPhiC publications is important for creating transparency and maximizing opportunities for collaboration within the Consortium. Notification occurs when a lead author or designee creates a record for publication in progress in the internal tracking Google sheet, including basic information such as topic/title, dataset(s) used, and Research Center(s) involved. The document is visible by Consortium members. Authors can also leverage the OWG to communicate and coordinate publications. Notification should occur before a preprint is submitted.

Comment

All MorPhiC Consortium members (core and partner members) are welcome to comment on submitted publication notification forms. Comments are to be submitted in the two-week window following submission to the website.

Status Updates

Submitting authors will be asked to report to the DRACC any major updates on their submitted publication notification forms. Major updates include pre-print available (provide DOI), published (provide PubMed ID), changes to key contacts, or archived/no longer moving forward. Authors may also proactively provide such updates to the DRACC at any time.

Confidentiality

Manuscript details collected in the notification and comment process must be treated as confidential, and may not be shared outside of the network prior to availability of a pre-print.

Roles

Roles in the MorPhiC publication processes are as follows:

Data Resource & Administrative Coordination Center (DRACC)

  • Maintains a Google Sheet to track planned publications of consortium groups and comments from Consortium members
  • Maintains current list of submitted publications and abstracts on internal MorPhiC Google Sheet
  • Maintains public-facing list of published or pre-printed publications and abstracts on Consortium website
  • Maintains current list of banner authors as a Google sheet

Submitting author

  • Submits publication notification form in a timely manner, according to expectations by publication type
  • Responds to requests for status updates, including providing DRACC with a DOI (when pre-printed) or PubMed ID (when published)

Research Center PIs

• Determine who from their Center should be listed on the Consortium banner and update banner author members on the Google Sheet.

Steering Committee (SC)

  • Adjudicates publication-related conflicts
  • Publication-related concerns or potential conflicts can be raised to the SC co-chairs and/or the DRACC, who will triage as needed.

Consortium members

  • MorPhiC Consortium members (core and partner) are invited (but not required) to submit comments on publication notification records in the two-week window following submission to the MorPhiC website

Authorship

Facilitating cross-Consortium collaboration is a key element of the MorPhiC Consortium and this publication policy. Authorship should be discussed early in the process (e.g. at manuscript concept stage) to enable substantive contribution and fairness in representation. Principles of authorship in MorPhiC include:

  • Inclusivity
  • Providing opportunities for trainees and early stage investigators
  • Recognition for efforts of the DRACC (co-author or acknowledgement as appropriate) 
  • Adherence to standard authorship criteria (see ICMJE standards)

Banner authorship

For manuscripts utilizing cross-MorPhiC Consortium data and/or other cross-Consortium contributions (publication types D-F), banner authorship is required to acknowledge the efforts of the Consortium. A list of the members of the banner are maintained by the DCC on the Consortium website. Center PIs decide who from their group is on the Consortium banner and communicate that (along with any updates or changes) to the DCC. We encourage inclusion of members who are contributing to MorPhiC.

For manuscripts deriving from MorPhiC Working Groups, it is at the discretion of the WG to determine if a banner authorship for the WG is appropriate. If appropriate, please refer to the MorPhiC website for the current list of WG members.

Acknowledgements

All relevant papers should include a statement citing the NIH grant support for the work, listing the appropriate grant number(s) and acknowledging the MorPhiC Consortium.

Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Human Genome Research Institute of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number ##awardnumber##. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

Submitting Abstracts to Scientific Meetings

Abstracts do not require notification to the MorPhiC Consortium before submission to a conference; however, co-authors on the abstract should be notified with at least 48 hours notice. While not required, submission of an abstract to the MorPhiC website prior to the conference is encouraged. A list of all abstracts submitted to the DRACC will be maintained on the website by the DRACC. The same authorship considerations apply to abstracts as to manuscripts.

Data Sharing

All authors should ensure that their analysis is consistent with the conditions of the NIH Genomic Data Sharing Policy and the MorPhiC Data Sharing policy.

NIH Public Access Policy

Please note, all manuscripts developed by or in association with the MorPhiC Consortium must be deposited in PubMed Central. This step is critical for ongoing NIH funding, and authors should be aware of this requirement prior to submitting any article to a journal. For more information on this process, please visit the NIH Public Access Policy.

Preprint Policy and Guidance

  • The MorPhiC Consortium strongly encourages submission of all publications to a preprint server in advance of submission for publication to ensure timely access to scientific work.

  • Preprints of submitted manuscripts must be shared with the public via an appropriate public preprint server (such as bioRxiv, medRxiv, arXiv, ChemRxiv) prior to, or concurrently with the time of submission to a journal, unless an exception or extension was granted by the Morphic Consortium Steering Committee.
  • Co-submissions to public preprint servers should be coordinated among network members when appropriate. The manuscript tracking Google sheet should be updated with a link to the preprint, once it becomes available.
  • Exceptions or extensions may be requested in cases where sharing of preprints is not allowed due to legal requirements related to the protection of intellectual property, or when the target journal does not allow preprints to be shared prior to publication.
  • Requests for exception or extension should be made via email to the NIH voting member (Dr. Judy Mietz mietzj@mail.nih.gov) with a CC to Dr. Lisa Chadwick (chadwickL@niehs.nih.gov). Requests should explain why an exception or extension from the preprint policy is required, and should be supported by sufficient documentation from the institutional technology transfer office of the PI, or from the targeted journal. Such requests should be made well in advance of submission to a journal, in order to allow time for consideration by the Steering Committee.

Citation of preprints

The MorPhiC Consortium acknowledges that public preprints are considered publications for all practical purposes by Consortium members, and should be cited and credited like papers. Preprints establish priority in the field, can be included in progress reports, CVs, and lists of publications.

Open Access: Publications must at a minimum comply with the NIH Public Access policy (https://publicaccess.nih.gov/). In order to maximize the impact of the efforts of the network, authors should make strong efforts to publish their work using open access policies whenever possible.

Related Work: We encourage network members to share information about planned or submitted manuscripts even if the work is not funded by the network but related to the mission of the Morphic Consortium project.