Thank you for using the UMass Lowell Core Research Facilities (CRF). We are able to provide our services through a combination of government and University investment. One way to demonstrate the return on investment is through publications generated through core usage. The following Publication Policy, approved by the CRF Advisory Committee, is provided as a resource to guide you on how and when to acknowledge the CRF and/or to include CRF staff as authors.

The following guidelines are intended to ensure that research performed in core research facilities (CRF) is appropriately recognized and cited. They are compatible with Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines and have been approved by the university’s Core Research Facility Advisory Board. 

When to Acknowledge 

The following activities should be acknowledged in manuscripts and grants, but they do not by themselves meet the criteria for authorship. • Core personnel provided training or services available through reserved resource offerings for the user training or services for the user. 

  • Core personnel collected data for users that required technical skill but did not involve interpretation of data. 
  • Core personnel reviewed the manuscript or grant for intellectual content or advised on a revision of it. 
  • A technical question from a referee about data presented in the manuscript required a response from the core personnel with technical expertise relevant to the project. 
  • Core personnel provided general supervision of elements of the research project without significant intellectual input. 
  • Core personnel provided funding for the project without significant intellectual input. 
  • Users utilize CRF equipment that is essential for generating the data presented in the manuscript. 
  • Sample language:
    • “We acknowledge the support of the Core Research Facilities at the University of Massachusetts Lowell.” 
    • “We acknowledge the support of the *insert name of core facility.*” 
    • “We thank *Name” from the Core Research Facilities at the University of Massachusetts Lowell.” 

When to Invite to be a Coauthor

If any of the following conditions are met, then the core personnel should be invited to be a coauthor on the manuscript. 

  • Core Personal were involved in the study design and acquisition, analysis, and interpretation of the data and required their expertise and skills. Further, if any of the following conditions are met, then core personnel are encouraged to be invited to be a coauthor on the manuscript. 
  • Core personnel provided training or services beyond those available through reserved resource offerings for the user. This includes development of novel procedures for data acquisition or data analyses. • Core personnel wrote a portion of the manuscript (including Materials and Methods, figure legends, or technical details). 
  • Core personnel approved and took responsibility for the intellectual content of her/his contribution to the manuscript. 
  • Core personnel independently generated any part of a figure or table included in the manuscript using data collected by the core scientist. 

Core Personnel May Decline Acknowledgement or Authorship

Core personnel have the discretion to decline an invitation for authorship for a justified reason and with approval of the CRF Executive Director. The CRF Executive Director has the authority to request authors to withdraw the need to acknowledge the CRF or commit to authorship if considered appropriate.