Authorship

POLICY

According to the Council on Science Editors (CSE), authors are defined as “persons who have contributed sufficiently to a scientific report to be listed on the byline of the published report.” Principles related to authorship include, in part:

Identification of authors and other contributors is the responsibility of the people who did the work (the researchers) not the people who publish the work (editors, publishers). Researchers should determine which individuals have contributed sufficiently to the work to warrant identification as an author.
Individuals who contributed to the work but whose contributions were not of sufficient magnitude to warrant authorship should be identified by name in an acknowledgments section.
All individuals who qualify for authorship or acknowledgment should be identified. Conversely, every person identified as an author or acknowledged contributor should qualify for these roles.
Individuals listed as authors should review and approve the manuscript before submission. Individuals listed as corresponding authors are generally empowered by all other authors to review and approve the final article proof before publication.
The ultimate reason for identification of authors and other contributors is to establish accountability for the reported work.

(Source: Council for Science Editors, White Paper on Publication Ethics, Section 2.2.1 Authorship, https://www.councilscienceeditors.org/2-2-authorship-and-authorship-responsibilities, accessed February 12, 2024.)

Artificial Intelligence Authorship

Authors are welcome to use generative artificial intelligence (AI) in the preparation of their manuscripts. However, machine learning (ML) and AI tools (such as ChatGPT or Bard) should not be listed as authors. Authors are expected to take full responsibility for the accuracy, integrity, and originality of the submitted work. Submission of a manuscript is taken as a declaration that the author(s) have reviewed and edited any AI-generated content as needed.

(Source: Council for Science Editors, White Paper on Publication Ethics, Section 2.2.2 Other Authorship Issues, https://www.councilscienceeditors.org/2-2-authorship-and-authorship-responsibilities, accessed February 12, 2024.)

Order of Authors

The order of authors in the byline is a collective decision of the authors or study group. Disagreements about author order should be resolved by the authors before the article is submitted for publication. Disputes that arise after submission could delay or prevent publication. Authors should not expect editors to become embroiled in disputes among authors over name placement in the byline.

(Source: Council for Science Editors, White Paper on Publication Ethics, Section 2.2.4 Order of Authors, https://www.councilscienceeditors.org/2-2-authorship-and-authorship-responsibilities, accessed December 15, 2016.)

Deceased Authors

If a co-author dies following submission, during the peer-review process, or prior to publication, the deceased co-author may be annotated with a dagger (†) symbol in the published article. A deceased individual may not be added to the authorship of a paper without explicit permission from a familial or legal proxy. If the deceased co-author was listed as the corresponding author, the co-authors may designate an alternate corresponding author by submitting an Authorship Change Form as described below. Since it would be impossible to secure the permission of all authors on a paper with a deceased co-author, no author additions, removals, or reordering will be permitted.

PROCEDURE

Authorship Changes

When authorship, including corresponding author designation, changes between versions of a manuscript, the authors must complete an Authorship Change Form, signed by all authors, stating clearly which author(s) are being added, removed, or reordered. All authors, including those being added or removed, must sign the Authorship Change Form before the authorship change can be approved.

Updated April 12, 2024