Produced and directed by...

Among many other pop icons, George Martin died in 2016. A classically educated man, he is credited with taking four raw, unformed lads from Liverpool and mentoring their transition into world-shaking originals. Although many tried to convince Mr. Martin to take more credit, his label was always producer and never creator. He recognized talent, did his best to nurture it and helped it into the world. Sound familiar? There are many parallels between this proven process in the arts and mentorship in the scientific world.

In science, everyone wants to be an author on as many papers as possible and many of us feel this is getting out of hand. I have colleagues who are 'authors' on more papers each year than most of us read in that time. Journals have complex guidelines to define contributions warranting authorship and everyone ignores them. The joke is that the guy who picks you up at the airport only does so if you agree to make him a coauthor. And he often is. Acknowledgements  seem not to be enough anymore.

Maybe we can learn something from George Martin and the Beatles.

Composers, performers, producers and directors. They are all involved in generating scientific research and publications. Maybe it is time to diversify credit for published research. It might satisfy everyone.