​Below are scenarios exploring when to consider including a person as an author or as someone mentioned in an acknowledgements statement. These examples are non-binding and provided for guidance only:

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• A person or team is hired to conduct data acquisition, but does not take part in analysis or interpretation of the results --> include in acknowledgements

• A person reviews a draft manuscript and edits it for clarity and/or grammar --> include in acknowledgements

• A colleague or supervisor with no direct involvement in the research reviews a draft manuscript and provides insightful feedback --> include in acknowledgements

• During the implementation of a major program or project, a community member or stakeholder raises concern about an issue and the project then begins systematically gathering data about the issue --> invite them to help interpret results and comment on manuscript drafts as a co-author

• A manuscript is based upon a masters thesis--> authors should include the masters student and any thesis committee members that were extensively involved in the design, analysis, and interpretation of the results. Committee members that provided feedback, but were not extensively involved, should be included in acknowledgements.

• Two members of a field project team decide to systematically gather social science data on a current knowledge gap. They are both men and of a different ethnicity than the people in the project communities --> They should consider whether their common gender and ethnicity might cause them to overlook important questions or misinterpret results. They should consider expanding their research team or proactively seeking feedback from people with diverse perspectives and local insights. 

• A community group or leader helps coordinate a series of focus group discussions used to systematically gather social science data --> include in acknowledgements

• A lab technician constructs physical models for a lab experiment and explains common construction practices used to build the model --> include in acknowledgements

• An IT specialist constructs software for survey research --> include in acknowledgements