A byline can bring career opportunities, credibility, and responsibility. When several people contribute to a study or publication, deciding whose names appear is therefore an institutional decision, not merely a matter of formatting.
Different fields use different conventions. ICMJE's biomedical authorship criteria connect substantial contribution with participation in writing or revision, final approval, and accountability. Other contributions may deserve acknowledgment without qualifying for authorship under that convention.
Credit and responsibility travel together
Imagine a research team in which one person secures funding, another analyzes data, and a third drafts the report. A senior title or funding role alone does not settle authorship under the ICMJE criteria. Equally, someone who performs essential intellectual work needs an opportunity to take part in the other responsibilities required for authorship.
Discussing expectations early can make the arrangement less vulnerable to a last-minute contest over prestige. The work may change as the project develops, so the discussion cannot always end at its beginning.
A byline is a particular promise
Readers rely on the byline to understand who stands behind the result. Inflating it with honorary authors weakens that signal; excluding people who did qualifying work erases both credit and responsibility.
The convention is useful because it makes a shared product attributable. It becomes misleading when imported into a different field as though every discipline understood names, order, and responsibility in the same way.