Authorship must represent a genuine intellectual contribution to the research. All listed authors share collective responsibility for the accuracy, originality, and integrity of the published work. Proper attribution of authorship ensures academic transparency and prevents practices such as guest, ghost, or honorary authorship.
Authorship Criteria
An individual qualifies for authorship only if they have met all of the following conditions:
- Made a substantial contribution to the conception, design, data collection, analysis, or interpretation of the study;
- Participated in drafting or critically revising the manuscript for intellectual content;
- Given final approval of the version to be published;
- Agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work, ensuring that questions related to accuracy or integrity are appropriately investigated and resolved.
Contributors who do not meet these criteria (e.g., those providing technical assistance, general supervision, or administrative support) should not be listed as authors but may be recognized in the Acknowledgments section.
Corresponding Author Responsibilities
The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that:
- All authors meet authorship criteria and have reviewed and approved the final version of the manuscript;
- All disclosures regarding conflicts of interest, ethics approvals, and funding are complete and accurate;
- Communication with the Editorial Office is maintained throughout submission, review, and publication;
- Any corrections, retractions, or responses to ethical queries are coordinated in a timely and transparent manner.
Author Contribution Statement (CRediT System)
To promote transparency, the journal encourages the use of the CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) framework. Each author’s specific role (e.g., conceptualization, methodology, software, validation, writing—original draft, writing—review & editing, supervision, funding acquisition) should be identified clearly in the manuscript.
Changes in Authorship
Requests to add, remove, or reorder authors after submission must be justified in writing and approved by all authors. The request must explain the reason for the change and include signed confirmation (email is acceptable) from every author. Once accepted for publication, authorship changes are only possible under exceptional circumstances and must be accompanied by a published correction.
Accountability and Data Responsibility
All authors share responsibility for the reliability of the data and interpretations presented. If any part of the work is found to be inaccurate or ethically questionable, all authors are expected to cooperate with the journal in issuing corrections, clarifications, or retractions as appropriate.
Acknowledgments and Contributors
Individuals or organizations who contributed to the research but do not meet authorship criteria—such as data collectors, funders, or technical assistants—should be acknowledged, with their consent, in a separate Acknowledgments section.
Use of AI or AI-Assisted Technologies
Authors must disclose any use of artificial intelligence or AI-assisted tools (for text generation, data analysis, or image processing) during manuscript preparation. Such tools cannot be listed as authors. The authors remain fully responsible for verifying the accuracy, originality, and ethical compliance of all content produced with AI assistance.
Conflict of Interest and Funding Disclosure
All authors must declare any actual or potential conflicts of interest that could influence the objectivity of the research. These include financial relationships, institutional affiliations, or personal circumstances that might create bias.
Funding sources must be clearly identified, including grant numbers, funder names, and the extent of their involvement in study design, data collection, analysis, or publication decisions. Where no specific funding was received, this must also be explicitly stated.