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Chemistry and Biochemistry Instruments and Facilities
MP-XRD Facility

Publication Policies

Guidelines for Acknowledgement & Notification

All works that utilize the MP-XRD instrument must acknowledge NSF support. For example, all research publications, presentations, posters, invention disclosures, dissertations, theses, news releases, and any other outputs resulting from use of the instrument should include an acknowledgement. Posters and other presentations should also include the NSF logo shown below. Furthermore, we request that users acknowledge the BYU XRD Facility and Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry for access to the XRD equipment. Suggested wording for these acknowledgements is provided below.

NSF also requires a disclaimer when the work itself is directly supported by NSF funding. For instrumentation grants such as ours, the disclaimer is recommended but not always strictly required in user publications. To be safe and consistent, we recommend including the disclaimer on any formal written research output such as journal articles, theses, dissertations, technical reports, and conference papers. The wording for this disclaimer is provided below.

Users are also requested to report publications and other works supported by the facility through the Publication Notification Form.

Sample Statements

Acknowledgment:

 "This work utilized instrumentation supported by the National Science Foundation under Award No. 2407868. The authors thank the BYU XRD Facility and Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry for access to and training on this instrumentation.”

These acknowledgements should be included in all works, including those for which the facility personnel are coauthors of the work.

Short version for posters/presentations: “BYU XRD Facility (NSF Award No. 2407868)”

Users should also include the NSF logo shown below in presentations or on posters.

Disclaimer: "Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation."

Why Is This Important?

Acknowledging research sponsors is important for many reasons, including the following:

  • It expresses gratitude for support.
  • It fulfills contractual requirements of many funding agencies such as the NSF.
  • It conforms to research publication norms that allow reviewers, publishers, and readers to evaluate potential biases due to the source of funding.
  • It helps quantify use of the XRD Facility and justify continued support of the equipment and services necessary for your research.

Planning for Authorship

Authorship provides credit for an individual’s contributions to a study and carries accountability. There are no universally accepted standards for assigning authorship, so authorship criteria should be agreed upon by all investigators at an early stage of the research. Where possible, it is advisable to keep written records of decisions regarding authorship, and these should be revisited where roles and contributions change over the lifecycle of the study.

Normally, an author is an individual judged to have made a substantial intellectual or practical contribution to a publication and who agrees to be accountable for that contribution. This would normally include anyone who has:

  1. made a significant contribution to the conception or design of the project or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; AND/OR
  2. drafted the work or reviewed/revised it critically for important intellectual content.

This is general guidance only and may not apply to all disciplines or journals which may set different standards.

Anyone listed as an author on a paper should approve the final version of the paper and accept responsibility for ensuring that he or she is familiar with its contents and can identify his or her contribution to it.

Individuals who contributed to the work, but whose contributions were not of sufficient magnitude to be listed as authors, should be properly acknowledged, usually in an acknowledgements section. Authors should be careful to ensure fair and proper acknowledgement of contributions from individuals who have not been listed as an author and make sure that acknowledgements fully reflect the level of input from the contributor.

Core Authorship Criteria (ICMJE Standards)

Most academic journals follow the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) guidelines, which state an author must meet all four criteria:

  • Substantial Contribution: Significant input into the conception/design of the work or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data.
  • Drafting/Revising: Drafting the manuscript or critically revising it for important intellectual content.
  • Approval: Final approval of the version to be published.
  • Accountability: Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work, ensuring accuracy and integrity. 

What Does NOT Justify Authorship

  • Acquisition of funding or data alone.
  • General supervision of a research group.
  • Providing materials, editing, or other services without intellectual contribution. 

Author Order and Responsibilities

  • First Author: Usually the person who performed the central experiments and wrote the first draft.
  • Corresponding Author: Assumes primary responsibility for the publication, manages communication with the journal, and ensures all authors meet criteria.
  • Senior/Last Author: Often the principal investigator, appearing last regardless of their specific contribution volume. 

Unacceptable Authorship Practices

  • Ghost Authorship: Leaving out someone who contributed significantly.
  • Guest/Honorary Authorship: Including someone who did not contribute, often a department head or famous researcher.
  • Gift Authorship: Crediting someone out of appreciation or peer pressure.