“Who is Camille Noûs, the fictitious French researcher with nearly 200 papers?” tells the story of the birth of this non-person, the intentions of those researchers who assign Camille Noûs as an author of their works, at times without notifying the journal editors, and the ethics of doing so. The name represents a collective, gender-neutral “we” and is the brainchild of RogueESR, a French research advocacy organization with no formal leadership. Those who express concern about including Camille Noûs as author note how the practice undermines responsible research and the difficulty of tracking and correcting errors, among others. Thanks to Laura Quilter for bringing this article and fascinating case to my attention.
