[Who is the author and why? Will the scientific authorship be revised?].

There is much ado about medical and scientific authorship. The criteria for authorship as stated by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors are debated. For readers, reviewers and editors it is of importance to know who is accountable and responsible for the contents of published articles. For researchers and clinicians on the one hand and for funding bodies and faculty management on the other disclosure of the individual contributions of authors to a publication is important. Editors are willing to play the role of intermediary between these two parties. This discussion has not come to a conclusion yet, but some journals (Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), British Medical Journal (BMJ), The Lancet) have already begun to publish the contribution(s) of individual authors (as stated by the authors themselves) at the end of their articles. The editors of the Nederlands Tijdschrift voor Geneeskunde (Dutch Journal of Medicine) are also going to ask for the authors' contributions from January 1, 1999 and intend to publish them later on in the year in the same way as The Lancet does. The maximum number of 6 authors that is allowed now, may be lapsed since the contributions of all authors will be known.