Table 1.

Terminology used in the survey

Term	Explanation
Authorship questionnairea [25]	Questionnaire for identification of potential authors based on their level of contribution to a study and evaluation of their interest in authoring, taking public responsibility and critically reviewing and approving the final version, based on ICMJE criteria. Completed questionnaires are collected at the end of the active phase of the study, before study results are available.
Publication briefing meeting	First meeting with authors and technical support staff (as a minimum: the lead author, the corresponding author, publication writer and publications coordinator). Purpose is to provide the opportunity for authors to agree on the publication’s content (interpretation and presentation of results, references), authorship order, target journal, timelines and working practices.
Publication outline	Skeletal presentation of the text that is circulated to all authors as a basis for discussions of the structure and content of the publication.
Publication steering committee (PSC) [1]	Small working group of individuals that may include members of the study steering committee and protocol development team, investigators and other individuals with expertise in the area and scientists of the sponsor company. Its aim is to endorse and recommend publication activities on behalf of the research study group. PSC membership does not automatically confer authorship.
Core writing team	Subgroup of authors who commit to taking the lead in the development of a publication. All authors review and provide input to the scientific content of the manuscript.

^aSee Additional file 1.