AUTHORSHIP CRITERIA AND CONTRIBUTORSHIP POLICY

Authorship Criteria and Contributorship Policy

Primary references:

1. Principles of Authorship

Authorship recognizes scientific contributions and entails responsibility for the article. This policy applies to all article types, including research articles, review articles, and community service articles.

2. Authorship Criteria

Each author must meet all four of the following criteria:

1) Make a substantial contribution to the conception or design of the work; or to the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data.

2) Draft the manuscript or revise it critically to improve its intellectual content.

3) Approve the final version to be published.

4) Agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work, including ensuring that questions concerning the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are investigated and resolved.

All individuals who meet all four criteria must be listed as authors. Contributors who meet the first criterion must be given the opportunity to participate in drafting, reviewing, and approving the manuscript.

3. Author Contributions Statement

Manuscripts must include an “Author Contributions” section before the references. The statement must describe each author's actual roles and be approved by all authors.

The journal uses the Contributor Role Taxonomy (CRediT) to help describe contributions, including conceptualization, methodology, software, validation, formal analysis, investigation, resources, data curation, writing—original draft, writing—review and editing, visualization, supervision, project administration, and funding acquisition.

One individual may perform multiple roles, and a single role may be performed by several individuals. Not all roles need to be present in every article. Assignment of a CRediT role does not automatically establish eligibility for authorship.

For community service articles, the contributions statement must describe each contributor's actual involvement in activity design, implementation, data collection or evaluation, and article preparation, as appropriate to their respective roles.

4. Non-Author Contributors

Funding, an official position, general supervision, administrative support, or language editing alone is insufficient to qualify for authorship. Contributors who do not meet all authorship criteria must be recognized in the Acknowledgments section with their written consent.

5. Author Order and Corresponding Author

Author order is determined jointly by the authors based on their agreement regarding contributions. The corresponding author coordinates communication with the journal, ensures that the required documentation is complete, and coordinates responses after publication. This role does not remove the responsibilities of the other authors.

6. Prohibited Authorship Practices

The journal prohibits:

  • Gift, guest, or honorary authorship: listing an individual who does not meet the authorship criteria.
  • Ghost authorship: omitting an individual who meets the authorship criteria.
  • Coercing the inclusion of an individual as an author on the basis of position, a supervisory relationship, or institutional influence.
  • Buying or selling authorship positions and listing an individual without that person's consent.

Status as a lecturer, student, supervisor, institutional leader, sponsor, or activity partner does not, in itself, determine eligibility for authorship.

AI, chatbots, and software cannot be listed as authors. Their use is governed by the journal's AI Use Policy.

7. Changes in Authorship

Requests to add or remove an author, change author order, or replace the corresponding author must be submitted to the editor and accompanied by:

  • The reasons for the change and an updated explanation of contributions.
  • Written consent from all authors, including any individual being added or removed.
  • An updated author list and contributions statement.

The editor may request additional evidence and suspend processing until the matter is resolved. Changes are not automatic and require editorial approval. If approved after publication, the changes are announced through a correction notice to maintain a transparent publication record.

8. Disputes and Misconduct

Authorship complaints must be submitted through the journal's official contact channels with supporting evidence. The editor will seek clarification and provide the parties concerned with an opportunity to respond.

Disputes requiring an investigation into researchers' contributions or conduct are referred to the relevant institution or competent authority. The editor does not act as the sole arbiter of entitlement to authorship.

On the basis of evidence, a documented agreement, or investigation findings, the journal may request amendments, suspend processing, reject the manuscript, or issue a correction. Retraction is considered under the retraction policy when sufficient grounds exist; an authorship dispute alone does not automatically warrant retraction.

9. Effective Date

This policy takes effect on the date announced by the journal and is reviewed periodically. Authors must ensure that the author list and contributions statement have been agreed upon before manuscript submission.

Example of a contributions statement:

Author Contributions

[Author 1 Name]: conceptualization, methodology, and writing—original draft. [Author 2 Name]: investigation, data curation, and writing—review and editing. [Author 3 Name]: formal analysis, validation, and writing—review and editing. All authors have approved the final version and agree to be accountable for the integrity of the work.