The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) has promulgated authorship criteria that hundreds of biomedical journals use; all authors must certify that they meet these criteria. Science lists its slightly modified version of these criteria in its policies on authorship: (only the relevant criteria are below)
"Each author . . .
agrees to be personally accountable for the author’s own contributions and for ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work, even ones in which the author was not personally involved, are appropriately investigated, resolved, and documented in the literature."
It appears to me that Science does not require authors, even the first or last author, to be personally accountable for the integrity of other authors' contributions to the paper, only to help investigate questions about them.
The ICMJE version of the relevant criteria reads:
"Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.
In addition to being accountable for the parts of the work he or she has done, an author should be able to identify which co-authors are responsible for specific other parts of the work. In addition, authors should have confidence in the integrity of the contributions of their co-authors."
[It is not clear to me how authors are expected to satisfy that last sentence.]
"Each author . . .
agrees to be personally accountable for the author’s own contributions and for ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work, even ones in which the author was not personally involved, are appropriately investigated, resolved, and documented in the literature."
It appears to me that Science does not require authors, even the first or last author, to be personally accountable for the integrity of other authors' contributions to the paper, only to help investigate questions about them.
The ICMJE version of the relevant criteria reads:
"Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.
In addition to being accountable for the parts of the work he or she has done, an author should be able to identify which co-authors are responsible for specific other parts of the work. In addition, authors should have confidence in the integrity of the contributions of their co-authors."
[It is not clear to me how authors are expected to satisfy that last sentence.]