Expert Consensus and Delphi Studies Require Listing of Consensus Groups for Contributing Authors Designated by Their Steering Committee.

Abstract

Expert consensus and Delphi studies present unique challenges regarding authorship that need further clarification and require creation of a consensus panel disparate from the main author group, designated by their steering committee. Authors should be listed and cited; contributors should be acknowledged. All authors are contributors, but not all contributors are authors. In the context of expert consensus studies, the number of panel members frequently exceeds author limits, making it impractical-and often inappropriate-to list all panel members as co-authors. In alignment with Committee on Publication Ethics and International Committee of Medical Journal Editors guidance, Arthroscopy prefers to designate the steering committee as the primary authors, because they clearly fulfill authorship criteria. The expert panel, as designated by the author steering group, is indelibly acknowledged in PubMed under the designation Delphi Panel or Delphi Consensus Group, with a supplementary section listing all panel members and their institutional affiliations.