Costs and co-authorship

Prices, terms and conditions. The core facilities offer the same basic price for their services to all projects where costs are billed to a university or university college, or the Regional Health Authorities. however, please note that for projects where the accounts are not kept at UiB, VAT will be added to the bill. 

Division of costs. Users of the core facilities pay a fee to contribute towards the total running costs of the core facilities. The extent to which running costs are covered by users, varies between the different core facilities, however all funds that come in through user payment is used directly to cover costs at the actual core facility; to maintain equipment and to ensure that the services provided remain at the highest level possible. 

The costs for access to an instrument and personell services must be paid for, regardless of co-authorship. The core facilities and their equipment are run on behalf of the research community. This means that the core facility must provide access to all researchers, and that the scientific staff of a core facility must book and pay the same fees as anyone else. 

The terms of service require user payment without co-authorship. This is true when the user gets access to an instrument and technical services in accordance with standard protocols. In these cases, the user defines the need of the project, and the staff of the core facility provide their services in accordance with the needs and specifications of the user, using established and available methods. If this work forms part of the basis for a scientific publication, the core facility should be acknowledged in the publication, for example: "Parts of the work was carried out at the NAME OF CORE FACILITY and was thus supported by the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Bergen and its partners”.

In some cases, both co-authorship and user payment is required. This is the case when the core facility's scientific staff or its highly qualified technical personell contribute actively in solving research questions beyond the standard protocols. In accordance with the Vancouver rules, contributions towards experimental design, development of new protocols and other methodological developments, writing of manuscripts and/or the interpretation of data, can qualify for co-authorship. The individual contribution should be reflected in the order of the authors.

User payment can in some cases be reduced where new methods are developed. If there is a clear overlap between the methods needed for a user and methods that the core facility would benefit from establishing regardless of the current project, user payment can be reduced. However, this depends on the pricing of each core facility, and should always be agreed before any services are provided. 

User payment can be covered by the user's collaborators, including the scientific staff of the core facility.  In some cases where the staff of the core facility are co-authors, sharing of costs may be appropriate. If this is the case, members of the core facility can use their own funds to cover costs. This does not mean a reduction of the user payment, merely a change in who covers the costs.

For informastion about booking, please see the relevant core facility.