Determining Authorship

I recently attended a workshop on ethical conduct in science for WHOI's summer student fellows. It made me think a little bit about authorship, and what guidelines are available for scientists to help them determine who should be included as an author. 

Many universities have official policies regarding authorship. The policies for the Harvard Medical School, Michigan State University and Washington University in St. Louis are typical and closely follow the guidelines adopted by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. Finally, Kathy Barker published this guide aimed at young scientists in Science Careers.

Most of the guidelines require that each author significantly contributed to conducting the science and drafted or revised the manuscript and approved the final version.  The Journal of the American Medical Association requires all authors to fill out a checklist to certify that they qualify as an author. 

Do you think it would be helpful for WHOI to have an official policy?