Which of the following most accurately describes the practice of ghost authorship?

Ghost authorship is characterized by the scenario where the individual who has actually written the manuscript is not acknowledged as an author. This can undermine the principles of transparency and accountability in scientific publishing, as it obscures who is responsible for the creation of the work and can mislead readers about the contributions made to the research. Proper authorship is critical in academia to ensure that credit is given where it is due and that the contributions of all involved parties are recognized.

The other scenarios presented touch on related ethical dilemmas within research and publication practices but do not accurately define ghost authorship. For example, providing constructive comments reflects a different type of involvement, while adding a high-profile researcher as an author relates more to issues of honorary authorship rather than ghost authorship. Lastly, the decision to withhold certain data from publication concerns data transparency rather than authorship attribution directly.