Authorship & Contributor Roles

Authorship Criteria

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

• Identification of authors and other contributors is the responsibility of the researchers who performed the work, not the editors or publisher.
• Researchers should determine which individuals have contributed sufficiently to warrant authorship.
• Individuals whose contributions do not justify authorship should be identified in an acknowledgments section where appropriate.
• All individuals who qualify for authorship or acknowledgment should be identified.
• Every individual identified as an author or acknowledged contributor should consent to that designation.
• Individuals listed as authors should review and approve the manuscript prior to submission and prior to submission of substantially revised versions.
• The purpose of authorship and contributor identification is to establish appropriate credit and accountability for the published work.

These principles are adapted from the Council of Science Editors (CSE) White Paper on Publication Ethics.

Author Roles & Definitions

Submitting Author

The submitting author is the individual who submits the manuscript through the journal’s submission system on behalf of all authors.

The submitting author is generally responsible for:

• ensuring that all authors have reviewed and approved the manuscript,
• confirming that all authors agree to submission,
• managing communications during peer review,
• coordinating revisions and responses to reviewers,
• submitting required forms and disclosures, and
• communicating editorial decisions to co-authors.

The submitting author is generally understood to be empowered by the co-authors to make procedural decisions during peer review and production processing on behalf of all authors.

In ScholarOne Manuscripts, the terms "submitting author" and "contact author" are often used interchangeably to describe the primary workflow contact for the manuscript during peer review and production processing.

Corresponding Author

The corresponding author is the individual identified in the published article as the primary contact regarding the published work.

The corresponding author is generally responsible for:

• responding to post-publication inquiries,
• communicating with readers, editors, and researchers regarding the article,
• coordinating responses related to corrections or clarifications, and
• maintaining availability for questions concerning the published research.

One or more authors may be designated as corresponding authors.

The corresponding author designation appearing in the published article may differ from the submitting author identified during peer review and production processing. For workflow and communication purposes, journals may still require designation of a primary contact during submission and production.

Because the corresponding author designation becomes part of the permanent published record, authors should carefully determine who is best positioned to fulfill this long-term role.

Contributor Identification & Transparency

INFORMS journals support transparency in authorship, contributor recognition, and researcher identification through the use of ORCID iDs and the CRediT contributor role taxonomy.

ORCID iD Requirements

INFORMS requires all authors of published articles to have an ORCID iD (Open Researcher and Contributor ID).

An ORCID iD is a persistent digital identifier that helps distinguish researchers and reliably connect individuals with their scholarly work, affiliations, funding, and professional activities.

ORCID identifiers:

• improve author identification and attribution,
• reduce ambiguity associated with name similarities or name changes,
• support discoverability and indexing, and
• facilitate integration across research and publishing systems.

Authors who do not already have an ORCID iD will be prompted to register during manuscript submission. Registration is free and typically requires only a few moments to complete.

Researchers may also register directly through the ORCID website.

Contributor Roles (CRediT Taxonomy)

INFORMS journals have implemented the CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) framework to improve transparency regarding individual author contributions.

CRediT provides a NISO-standardized nomenclature for identifying the specific contributions made by each author during the development of a scholarly work. Contributor role information will be collected during submission and will appear in the published article.

The CRediT roles include:

• Conceptualization — development of research goals, aims, or overarching ideas
• Data Curation — management, annotation, or maintenance of research data
• Formal Analysis — application of statistical, mathematical, or computational analysis techniques
• Funding Acquisition — securing financial support for the project
• Investigation — conducting experiments, data collection, or research activities
• Methodology — development or design of methods, models, or procedures
• Project Administration — coordination and management of research activities
• Resources — provision of study materials, datasets, instrumentation, computing resources, or other research infrastructure
• Software — programming, software development, or implementation of code
• Supervision — oversight, mentorship, or leadership of the research activity
• Validation — verification or replication of results and findings
• Visualization — preparation of figures, graphical representations, dashboards, or data visualization
• Writing – Original Draft — preparation of the initial manuscript draft
• Writing – Review & Editing — critical review, commentary, or revision of the manuscript

Contributor role designations supplement, but do not replace, authorship determinations.

Additional information and examples are available through the official CRediT taxonomy documentation.

Assignment of CRediT roles remains the responsibility of the authors.

Artificial Intelligence & Authorship

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning tools may be used in the preparation of manuscripts in accordance with applicable journal policies. However, AI tools or systems may not be listed as authors.

Authorship requires accountability and responsibility for the published work, which cannot be assumed by automated systems.

Submission of a manuscript is taken as a declaration that the author(s) have reviewed and edited any AI-generated content as needed and have verified the accuracy, validity, originality, and appropriate attribution of all submitted material, including quotations, citations, references, figures, tables, data, and supplementary materials.

Authors remain fully responsible for all content submitted for peer review and publication, including any material generated or assisted by AI tools.

Submission of incomplete, misleading, fabricated, or hallucinated content—including fictitious references or unverified claims—may constitute a breach of publication ethics.

Additional guidance regarding the use of generative AI tools is available in the Guidelines for Ethical Behavior in Publishing.

Order of Authors

The order of authors in the byline is a collective decision of the authors or study group.

Questions regarding author order, equal contribution statements, or senior authorship designations should be resolved prior to submission. Disputes that arise after submission may delay editorial consideration or publication.

Authors should not expect editors or publishers to become involved in disputes concerning author order, relative contribution, or name placement within the byline.

Equal Contribution Statements

Authors may indicate that two or more authors contributed equally to the work. Such designations should be agreed upon by all authors prior to submission.

Equal contribution statements do not alter the responsibility or accountability of any listed author.

Deceased Authors

If a co-author dies following submission, during peer review, or prior to publication, the deceased co-author will be identified in the published article using an appropriate notation, such as a dagger (†) symbol and explanatory footnote.

A deceased individual may not be added to the authorship of a manuscript without permission from an authorized familial or legal representative.

If a deceased co-author was designated as a corresponding author, the remaining co-authors may designate an alternate corresponding author through the authorship change process.

Because consent from all authors can no longer be obtained following the death of a co-author, requests for additional authorship additions, removals, or reordering generally will not be permitted.

Authorship Changes

Requests to add, remove, reorder, or otherwise modify authorship after submission must be submitted to the journal together with documentation demonstrating agreement of all affected authors.

Authors requesting changes to authorship, including corresponding author designation, will be required to complete an Authorship Change Form signed by all affected authors, including any authors being added or removed.

Journals may decline to process authorship changes when required documentation is incomplete or when concerns regarding publication ethics arise.

Authorship changes requested after acceptance or publication may require additional review and could result in delays to publication or indexing updates.

INFORMS Member Identification

The INFORMS icon ( ) displayed alongside an author name indicates current INFORMS membership status at the time of article acceptance.

Member identification is intended to recognize participation in the INFORMS professional community and to enhance visibility of member contributions across the scholarly literature.

Membership status does not influence editorial evaluation, peer review, editorial decisions, or publication outcomes. All manuscripts are evaluated exclusively on scholarly merit and adherence to journal standards.

Membership identification will generally reflect membership status on the date of article acceptance. Membership status may be updated if an author joins or renews membership prior to publication of the Article in Advance version of record. Membership status changes occurring after Article in Advance publication generally will not be reflected retroactively in published metadata.