Sir

The headline “Physics guidelines drop equal-responsibility clause”, on your News story (Nature 420, 258; 200210.1038/420258b) reporting new ethical guidelines adopted by the American Physical Society (APS) in response to recent cases of misconduct, leaves the impression that the APS weakened its guidelines. On the contrary, the guidelines have been strengthened.

A major reason for the APS revision was to make explicit the responsibilities of co-authors. In particular, the new version includes a provision that specifies some authors who must take full responsibility for the content of an entire paper.

As your News story indicates, some physicists feel that the guidelines are now too strict, but most of them are supportive. The APS will continue to consider its role in establishing ethical guidelines and promoting education in professional conduct.