Authorship and Contributorship

AIJOSH is committed to fair attribution, transparency, and accountability in scholarly publishing. This policy establishes authorship requirements, explains authors’ responsibilities, and provides guidance on recognizing contributions to research and manuscript preparation.

The journal adapts the authorship criteria of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), authorship recommendations adapted from the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), and the Contributor Role Taxonomy (CRediT).

1. Authorship and Contributorship

Authorship recognizes substantial intellectual contributions and carries responsibility for the published work. All listed authors must meet the journal’s authorship criteria.

Contributorship encompasses the different roles involved in producing research and preparing a manuscript, including contributions made by authors and individuals who do not qualify for authorship. Contributors who do not meet all authorship criteria should receive appropriate acknowledgment.

Academic rank, institutional position, supervisory status, personal relationships, or financial support alone do not establish entitlement to authorship.

2. Criteria for Authorship

Each author must meet all four criteria:

Contribute substantively to the study’s conception, design, research framework, or acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data or source materials.
Help draft the manuscript or critically revise its intellectual content.
Approve the version to be published.
Accept accountability for their contribution and cooperate in examining and resolving integrity concerns affecting any part of the work.

Everyone who meets these criteria should be included. Contributors meeting the first criterion must have a reasonable opportunity to participate in drafting, critical review, and final approval. Research teams must not deny these opportunities to exclude otherwise eligible contributors.

Authors should understand their co-authors’ contributions and have confidence in their integrity.

3. Author Contributions and CRediT

An Author Contributions statement is required. Authors must use applicable CRediT roles to describe their contributions accurately.

CRediT comprises 14 roles:

Conceptualization.
Data curation.
Formal analysis.
Funding acquisition.
Investigation.
Methodology.
Project administration.
Resources.
Software.
Supervision.
Validation.
Visualization.
Writing – original draft.
Writing – review & editing.

The statement must identify each author and their applicable roles. An individual may perform several roles, and multiple contributors may share a role. Include only roles that describe the work actually undertaken; not every role applies to every study.

For historical, archival, conceptual, or interpretive research, authors may add brief explanations of activities such as source identification, source criticism, translation of historical materials, or development of the scholarly argument.

The corresponding author coordinates the statement, and all authors must confirm their assigned roles.

CRediT describes contributions and complements the authorship criteria. Assignment of one or more roles does not independently establish eligibility for authorship.

During anonymous review, provide the identifying statement separately to the editor. Restore the complete statement in the final manuscript before publication.

4. Non-Author Contributors and Acknowledgments

Individuals whose contributions do not meet all authorship criteria should be recognized in the Acknowledgments section, with a description of their assistance.

Contributions that do not independently establish authorship include funding acquisition, general supervision, administrative support, technical assistance, language editing, proofreading, and facilitating access to archives, collections, research sites, or materials.

Activities such as conducting interviews, collecting documents, transcribing recordings, or translating sources must be assessed in the context of the individual’s overall contribution. Individuals performing these activities may qualify as authors if they also meet the remaining authorship criteria.

The corresponding author must obtain permission from individuals named in the acknowledgments. Recognition of research participants or informants must respect consent arrangements, confidentiality commitments, and agreed anonymity.

Professional writing or editorial assistance must be disclosed, together with its funding source where applicable.

5. Author Order and Information

Author order must be agreed upon by all authors before submission. AIJOSH does not prescribe a particular ordering convention, but authors should be able to explain their agreed order if requested.

Research teams are encouraged to discuss authorship and contributions early, revisit these discussions as the work develops, and retain a written record of their agreements.

Equal-contribution statements may be included when accurate and agreed upon by the authors concerned.

Names, affiliations, and author order must be consistent across the title page, contribution statement, and submission-system metadata. Authors must provide accurate institutional information and use only their own ORCID iDs.

The number of author blocks in the manuscript template is illustrative and does not establish an authorship limit.

6. Corresponding Author

One author must be designated as the corresponding author to coordinate communication during submission, peer review, production, and post-publication correspondence.

The corresponding author is responsible for:

Confirming that all listed authors meet the criteria and that no eligible author has been omitted.
Obtaining all authors’ approval of the submission, substantive revisions, and final version.
Ensuring accurate author names, affiliations, contact details, and author order.
Coordinating contribution statements, funding information, conflicts of interest, and other disclosures.
Keeping co-authors informed of editorial decisions and coordinating responses to reviewers.
Obtaining permission for named acknowledgments.
Coordinating responses to questions about the article after publication.

This coordinating role does not replace the individual responsibilities of other authors or confer sole ownership of the work.

7. Changes to Authorship

Requests to add, remove, or reorder authors, or change the corresponding author, must be submitted in writing to the Editor-in-Chief through the journal’s official contact channel, normally by the corresponding author.

Each request must include:

A clear explanation of the proposed change.
An updated contribution statement where relevant.
Written agreement from all authors, including anyone being added or removed.
Updated author information and declarations where necessary.

Individuals who believe they have been improperly excluded or included may contact the journal directly.

The journal may request supporting documentation and suspend manuscript processing while a request is assessed. Changes must not be introduced silently in a revised manuscript or submission metadata.

Changes after acceptance will be considered only in exceptional, adequately justified circumstances and require editorial approval.

After publication, approved changes will normally be documented through a correction linked to the article. Changes are not automatic, and the journal may decline requests that lack sufficient evidence or conflict with its policies.

Where authors disagree, the journal may refer the matter to the relevant institution or other appropriate authority.

8. Unacceptable Authorship Practices

AIJOSH prohibits:

Gift, guest, or honorary authorship: Listing individuals who do not meet the criteria because of status, reputation, personal relationships, or anticipated benefit.
Ghost authorship: Omitting individuals who qualify as authors.
Undisclosed assistance: Concealing substantive writing or editorial assistance that should be acknowledged, whether or not the contributor qualifies as an author.
Denial of authorship: Excluding individuals who meet the authorship criteria.
Coerced authorship: Using authority or pressure to obtain an authorship position without qualifying contributions.
Misrepresentation of contributions: Providing false or misleading information about an individual’s role.
Unauthorized inclusion: Listing an individual without their knowledge and consent.
Authorship trading: Buying, selling, or exchanging authorship positions.

Suspected violations will be handled under the journal’s procedures for addressing allegations of misconduct.

9. Artificial Intelligence and AI-Assisted Tools

Artificial intelligence tools must not be listed as authors or co-authors. They cannot approve publication, accept responsibility, or fulfill the journal’s accountability requirements.

Authors must disclose relevant use of generative AI in accordance with the journal’s Generative AI Policy. Required disclosures must identify the tool and explain its purpose and extent of use.

AI use as part of the research method must be described in the Method section with sufficient detail to assess its influence on the findings. Assistance with manuscript preparation should be reported in the designated declaration.

Human authors remain responsible for verifying the accuracy, originality, citations, and integrity of all submitted content. Disclosure does not make an otherwise prohibited use acceptable.

10. Group and Collaborative Authorship

For manuscripts submitted by a research group, network, or consortium, the group name may be included where appropriate. The submission must clearly identify the individuals who qualify as authors and distinguish them from other collaborators.

Every individual identified as an author must meet all four authorship criteria. Group membership alone does not establish authorship.

A corresponding author must coordinate communication and provide an accurate account of members’ contributions. The presentation of group authorship and collaborator names must be agreed with the editorial office and accurately reflected in the publication metadata.

11. Authorship Disputes

The journal generally does not adjudicate unresolved disputes over authorship eligibility or author order. Authors should seek resolution through documented agreement or institutional procedures.

Before publication, manuscript processing may be suspended until a dispute is resolved.

After publication, the journal will assess credible concerns, seek responses from the individuals involved, and request institutional investigation where necessary. A correction may be issued when an authorship change is supported by sufficient evidence.

An authorship dispute alone does not normally justify retraction when the findings remain reliable. Other editorial action may be necessary if the case also raises substantial concerns about research integrity or the publication process.

Individuals handling a dispute must disclose relevant conflicts of interest. Concerns involving an editor must be assigned to an independent editor or referred to Medan Resource Center for independent handling.

12. Declarations and Policy Review

At submission, the corresponding author must confirm that all listed authors meet the journal’s criteria, approve the manuscript, and consent to its submission to AIJOSH. The journal may request individual confirmations or additional documentation.

Authors must disclose relevant conflicts of interest, funding sources, and other required information. Institutional and funder requirements do not justify authorship practices that conflict with this policy.

Authors must cooperate with reasonable post-publication inquiries and promptly notify the journal of significant errors or integrity concerns.

AIJOSH may request clarification of Authorship and Contributions at any stage. This policy will be reviewed periodically and applied alongside the Author Guidelines, Conflicts of Interest Policy, Generative AI Policy, and procedures for handling allegations of misconduct and corrections.