Approved by AHA Council, January 5, 2021

At a time when more historians are working collaboratively to produce monographs, scholarly editions, articles, exhibitions, websites, textbooks and pedagogical materials, and other genres of scholarship, the AHA affirms the importance of fully and publicly recognizing and crediting the work of all contributors. The particular form that such acknowledgment takes will likely vary depending on the type of project. For example, depending on the project, it might be appropriate for contributors to be listed in an order corresponding to their degree of contribution, or for them to be listed in alphabetical order. However, we stand by the principle articulated in our Statement on Standards of Professional Conduct, which reads: “Historians should always acknowledge assistance received from colleagues, students, research assistants, and others, and give due credit to collaborators.” Moreover, we maintain that all key collaborators, such as co-authors, should be listed in such a way as to ensure audiences are fully aware of those collaborators’ contributions to the project in question. This attention to the acknowledgment of collaborators is critical—not only to avoid charges of plagiarism or the appropriation of the work of others, which are also discussed in our Standards, but as a bedrock principle of professional historical work and scholarship.