Authorship should reflect substantial scholarly contribution and appropriate accountability for the work. Journals may adopt discipline-specific authorship criteria and contribution taxonomies.
Author responsibilities
- All listed authors should meet the journal’s authorship criteria and approve the submitted version.
- Contributions should be described accurately, and individuals who contributed without qualifying for authorship should be acknowledged where appropriate.
- Gift, guest, honorary and ghost authorship are not acceptable.
- The corresponding author should ensure that author information and declarations are complete and accurate.
Authorship changes
Requests to add, remove or reorder authors after submission should include a clear explanation and documented agreement from the affected authors. After publication, authorship changes should be exceptional and may require a formal correction.
Accountability
Authors share responsibility for the integrity of the work within the scope of their contributions and should cooperate with reasonable editorial questions about the article.