Collaborator Guidelines
The Collaborators are at the core of the MAP Project: without data contributions, this project would not be able to move forward.
A Collaborator is any individual who contributes data to the MAP Project.
If you are interested in becoming a Collaborator, please read the sections below on Authorship and Data Use, and then
Individuals interested in collaborating on the MAP Project must complete the MAP Collaborator form by December 31, 2024.
Individuals/organizations that are unsure if their data is appropriate for inclusion in the MAP Database should e-mail the MAP Coordinators (via lindsay.trottier@mail.mcgill.ca) to discuss.
Authorship
The MAP Project will produce a minimum of one research paper based on the data compiled in the MAP Database (referred to hereafter as "the main MAP research paper").
The MAP Coordinators believe that all Collaborators should have an equal opportunity to obtain authorship on the main MAP research paper, regardless of any factor that may inhibit them from meaningfully participating in a way that would make them eligible for co-authorship (e.g., language barriers).
Therefore, any Collaborator who contributes data to the MAP Project is eligible to be granted co-authorship on the main MAP research paper.
However, co-authorship on the main MAP research paper is established through an Opt-In system, whereby Collaborators are required to opt-into co-authorship by completing the mandatory (and short!) MAP Collaborator form.
All Collaborators will be asked if they would like to participate in the preparation of the manuscript for the main MAP research paper (via the MAP Collaborator form). If they are interested, they will be provided with opportunities to participate in the various stages of the manuscript preparation.
When the main MAP research paper is in it's final stages of preparation, the MAP Coordinators will ensure that Collaborators who contributed data only, and Collaborators who contributed data and participated in another meaningful way (e.g., participating in the manuscript preparation) will be credited as such in the final manuscript by assigning them to the appropriate tier of co-authorship (see photo).
A description of the co-authorship tiers will be provided as part of the manuscript, and reference will be made to the co-authorship tiers in the manuscript itself (such as the acknowledgements section).
Collaborators who indicate their interest in participating in the preparation of the main MAP research paper and who follow through on making their contribution will be granted Tier B co-authorship. Collaborators who contribute data only will be granted Tier C co-authorship.
Tier B and Tier C co-authors will be listed alphabetically, while Tier A and Tier D co-authors may not necessarily be ordered alphabetically.
Data use
During the publication of the main research paper of MAP data needed to recreate the findings in the paper will be made publicly available (e.g., DOIs for published datasets, Collaborator names, trait data used in statistical analysis or visualizations).
Following the publication of the main MAP research paper, all Collaborators will have access to the complete MAP Database to support their own research questions.
Any future analyses will be required to appropriately cite the MAP Project/MAP Database by citing the main MAP research paper.
Finally, any data that is not currently part of the TRY Plant Trait Database will be submitted to TRY following the publication of the main research paper for the MAP Project.
