10 Material that represents official WHO views, for which WHO takes responsibility for the content, and that meets other specified criteria (see section VIII.2.2), including consistency with the Organization’s policies, should be issued under WHO corporate authorship only. There should be no mention of authors on the cover or title page, though people and/or entities who have made a substantial intellectual contribution to the development of the publication should be acknowledged (see paragraphs 40 to 100). The majority of WHO publications fall into this category.
20 Exceptionally, WHO may decide to issue material that represents the views of others, such as individuals or a group of individuals (e.g. a commission reporting its views to WHO or a WHO expert committee), and not necessarily the views of the Organization. In such cases, there should be clear identification on the cover and title page of the name of the group or individuals whose views the material represents, and a disclaimer attributing responsibility to the group or individuals, as appropriate. Other examples of materials that fall into this category include articles in WHO periodicals (e.g. the Bulletin of the World Health Organization) that represent the views of individuals, articles submitted to external peer-review journals and chapters contributed to multi-authored books that are published by external publishers (see section VIII.6.3, paragraphs 30 to 40).
30 In the case of books published by external publishers containing contributions by multiple authors, it should be made clear whose view is being expressed, with identification of authors as appropriate (e.g. in individual sections). In such cases, the cover and title page should bear the names of the editors who were responsible for the overall content of the publication, rather than those of the individual authors.
Acknowledgements
40 In publications that are issued under WHO corporate authorship, acknowledgements ensure that the technical contributions of external experts and WHO staff are recognized. In publications that represent the views of others where authors are identified, acknowledgements provide an opportunity to recognize the technical contribution of others in the review and revision process. All those who have made a substantial intellectual contribution to the development of the publication should be acknowledged. Such contributions may include, inter alia, contributions to the technical concept, evidence review or synthesis, study design, data collection or analysis, writing or review. In all cases, the nature of the contribution being acknowledged should be made clear.
50 The main contributors (external experts and WHO staff) should be listed first, in order of their respective technical contributions, followed by the individuals and/or groups or external entities involved in reviewing and revising the text, in alphabetical order. Collaboration with external entities should be mentioned, as should participants in relevant consultative meetings.
60 WHO staff who are not the main contributors, but have nevertheless provided a substantial technical contribution, should usually be listed together after any external contributors, in alphabetical order (unless their contribution has exceeded that of the external contributors, in which case they should be listed before).
70 Financial contributions to the development of a publication and/or publishing costs should be acknowledged separately from technical contributions. Some funding agencies may specify the wording to be used, in accordance with their agreements with WHO, which should have been cleared by LEG. Acknowledgements of funding should be printed in the normal font used in the acknowledgements section and should not be enlarged or highlighted to publicize the name of the donor. Financial contributions to activities leading to the production of WHO guidelines, standards, norms or recommendations may not be accepted from private sector entities (including business associations) or non-State actors having a conflict of interest or vested interest in the outcome of WHO’s work in a given area (see section VIII.6.2, paragraph 20).
75 Those responsible for preparing a publication should make clear at the outset the contributions and the individuals, group of individuals and/or entities that will merit acknowledgement. The permission of all those proposed for acknowledgement should be obtained.
80 Acknowledgements in WHO publications should not include WHO staff who have contributed to the publication process in the normal course of their work but not made a substantial technical contribution, such as non-technical writers, editors, graphic designers, and administrative and secretarial staff. Freelance editors, proofreaders, translators and indexers should also not be included.
90 Graphic design and printing are conventionally acknowledged in a by-line on the reverse title or copyright page. If these tasks are carried out in house, the names of the relevant units (not individuals) should be given.
100 In the case of photographs, the name of the photographer is usually acknowledged immediately under the bottom right-hand corner of the photograph (see section VIII.2.10). If copyright is not held by WHO, permission must be obtained to reproduce the photograph (see section VIII.6.4).
Working with external entities
110 If a WHO publication is being developed with the assistance of, or in collaboration with, one or more external entities (governmental or non-State actor), a written agreement describing the roles and responsibilities of each entity (including WHO) should be drawn up, if applicable, at the planning stage. WHO’s copyright should be protected so that WHO can exercise full rights over all materials for which it is responsible. The relationship with the external entities may differ, depending on whether the entity is another intergovernmental organization or an institution that is subject to national laws (see section VIII.6.3).
120 To ensure the objectivity and independence of the expert advice provided to WHO, all external experts engaged by the Organization or serving on expert groups must complete a Declaration of Interests form (see section VIII.7.1).
