Research Help

Five years, one contribution.

A doctorate is a long project that has to survive its own middle. Pick where you are — each topic opens the full guide: what to do first, how to do it well, what usually goes wrong, and how to know you're done.

Norwegian PhD requirements differ by institution — number of articles, how many must be accepted before submission, and lead-author rules all vary. Treat this as the shape of the rules, and confirm the specifics with your faculty.

In an article-based doctorate you will almost certainly publish with others — usually including your supervisor. The committee's task is to see your independent contribution through that collaboration. Co-author declarations exist precisely to make your own effort visible, and they are far easier to get right at the time than years later.

Start here

Agree authorship order before the writing starts — not after the results look good. Have the conversation early, write it down, and revisit it if contributions change. Almost every authorship dispute traces back to a conversation nobody had at the beginning.

  1. 01

    Know your faculty's lead-author threshold

    Rules vary sharply. Some faculties require the candidate to be lead author on at least half the articles; others require main authorship on at least two; some require first authorship on all. This number shapes which collaborations you can afford to take on — find it out at the start, not in year four.

  2. 02

    Apply real authorship criteria

    Authorship requires substantial contribution to the work, involvement in drafting or revising it, and approval of the final version — all of them, not just one. Funding a project or heading a department does not by itself earn authorship, and neither does collecting data without intellectual input.

  3. 03

    Settle the supervisor's role explicitly

    A supervisor is a co-author only if their actual participation in that specific paper meets the criteria — it is not automatic, and it should be clarified separately for each article, as early as possible. Have this conversation openly; it protects you both.

  4. 04

    Collect signed declarations as you go

    A thesis with co-authored articles must include signed declarations describing what you and each co-author contributed to each paper. Send the form to your co-authors as each article is completed — chasing signatures from people who have since moved institutions is a real and avoidable nightmare.

  5. 05

    Make your independence visible

    Where you are not first author, you should still have contributed significantly to the data collection, the interpretation of results, and the writing. And remember the kappe is yours alone — it is the clearest place where your independent voice is on the record.

Best practices

Agree authorship before writing, in writing

An email confirming the agreed order costs nothing now and prevents the most common and most damaging conflict in academic life.

Get declarations signed at completion

Send the co-authorship form the moment each paper is done. Signatures are easy to get from a collaborator who just finished with you, and hard from one who left three years ago.

Refuse gift and ghost authorship

Adding someone who didn't contribute, or omitting someone who did, are both misconduct. Neither is worth the risk, however senior the person asking.

Balance collaboration against your thresholds

Collaboration is good for science and good for you — but if your faculty requires lead authorship on half your papers, you must protect enough of them to qualify.

For every co-authored paper

  • Authorship order agreed before writing
  • Each author meets all authorship criteria
  • The supervisor's role clarified for this paper
  • Your specific contribution documented
  • A signed co-author declaration obtained
  • All co-authors approved the final version
  • Your lead-author count is on track

Common traps

Assuming the supervisor is automatically a co-author.

They are not. Co-authorship depends on their actual contribution to that specific paper, and should be clarified separately each time — early, and openly.

Chasing signatures in the final month.

Co-authors move, retire, and become unreachable. Collect each declaration as its paper completes — this is a five-minute task that becomes a crisis if deferred.

Collaborating your way below the lead-author threshold.

Generous collaboration can quietly leave you short of the first-authorships your faculty requires. Track the count from paper one, and protect the papers that must be yours.

You're ready to move on when…

  • Authorship was agreed in writing before each paper.
  • Every co-authored paper has a signed declaration.
  • You meet your faculty's lead-author threshold.
  • Your independent contribution is documented and visible.
  • No gift or ghost authors appear anywhere.