Authorship and Contributorship

AHRIE (Applied Health Research, Innovation & Education) recognizes that authorship provides academic credit while also creating public accountability for published content.

The journal adopts the authorship criteria of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) and uses the CRediT taxonomy to transparently describe individual contributions.

Authorship criteria

To be listed as an author, an individual must meet all four of the following criteria:

1. Make substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data.

2. Participate in drafting the manuscript or critically revising it for important intellectual content.

3. Approve the final version to be published.

4. Agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work and to cooperate in investigating and resolving any question concerning its accuracy or integrity.

Everyone identified as an author must meet all four criteria, and everyone who meets the criteria must be given the opportunity to be listed as an author.

Individuals who make substantial contributions under the first criterion should be given the opportunity to participate in revising, approving, and accepting accountability for the manuscript so that they may satisfy the remaining criteria.

Activities that do not justify authorship by themselves

The following activities, when performed alone, are insufficient for authorship:

• obtaining funding;

• general supervision of a group or department;

• administrative support;

• routine data collection without an additional intellectual contribution;

• technical assistance;

• language or style editing;

• providing patients, samples, materials, or facilities;

• holding a senior position or hierarchical relationship;

• participating solely as an adviser.

These contributions should be acknowledged or described using CRediT when appropriate and with permission from the individual named.

Guest, honorary, and ghost authorship

AHRIE does not accept:

• guest authorship: including someone to increase prestige or facilitate publication without sufficient contribution;

• honorary authorship: inclusion based on authority, position, personal relationship, or professional recognition;

• reciprocal authorship: inclusion as a favor or exchange;

• ghost authorship: omitting someone who made a substantial contribution and meets the authorship criteria.

Intentionally inappropriate inclusion or exclusion of authors may be treated as a breach of publication integrity.

CRediT taxonomy

Manuscripts must include a contributor statement based on the CRediT taxonomy. This taxonomy identifies 14 roles:

• Conceptualization;

• Data curation;

• Formal analysis;

• Funding acquisition;

• Investigation;

• Methodology;

• Project administration;

• Resources;

• Software;

• Supervision;

• Validation;

• Visualization;

• Writing – original draft;

• Writing – review and editing.

One person may perform multiple roles, and the same role may be assigned to several people.

CRediT describes contributions but does not independently determine who qualifies for authorship. Funding acquisition, supervision, or provision of resources, for example, does not automatically confer authorship.

Contributor statement

The corresponding author must coordinate an accurate contributor statement and ensure that all authors have reviewed and approved it.

Example:

“Conceptualization: A.A. and B.B.; methodology: A.A., B.B., and C.C.; formal analysis: C.C.; investigation: A.A. and D.D.; data curation: B.B.; writing – original draft: A.A.; writing – review and editing: all authors; supervision: D.D. All authors approved the final version and accept accountability for the work.”

AHRIE may request clarification when the stated contributions do not appear consistent with the author list.

Author order

Author order must be decided collectively before submission.

AHRIE does not assign a particular meaning to first, last, or any other position in the list. Authors are responsible for applying the conventions of their discipline and resolving disagreements transparently.

The corresponding author must confirm that everyone understands and agrees with the submitted order.

Corresponding author

The corresponding author serves as the primary contact between AHRIE and all authors. Responsibilities include:

• ensuring that all authors meet the authorship criteria;

• confirming that all authors reviewed and approved the manuscript;

• ensuring that all authors know about the submission and selected journal;

• maintaining current contact information;

• coordinating responses to reviewers and editors;

• communicating decisions and proofs to all authors;

• managing contributor, funding, conflict-of-interest, ethics, data, and artificial-intelligence declarations;

• ensuring that everyone approves the final version;

• responding to post-publication communications.

The corresponding author may not make substantial changes or decisions on behalf of the other authors without their knowledge and approval.

Collective and individual accountability

Each author is accountable for their specific contributions and should be able to identify who is responsible for the other parts of the work.

All authors share an obligation to cooperate when questions arise concerning accuracy, integrity, ethics, data, or reproducibility, even when the matter is not directly related to their individual contribution.

Group or consortium authorship

When work is submitted by a group, network, or consortium, the manuscript must clearly identify:

• the collective name;

• the individuals who assume direct responsibility as authors;

• individual contributions;

• members who should be listed only as collaborators;

• how the group wishes authorship to be indexed.

Individuals identified as authors must meet the established criteria. Group membership alone does not confer authorship.

Contributors and acknowledgments

Individuals who contributed to the work but do not meet all four authorship criteria may be named as contributors or in the acknowledgments.

Authors must obtain permission before identifying them by name because acknowledgment may be interpreted as approval of the content.

Acknowledgments may recognize:

• technical or administrative support;

• limited scientific or methodological advice;

• translation or language-editing assistance;

• assistance with information collection;

• provision of materials or facilities;

• other contributions that do not meet authorship criteria.

Funding must be reported in a separate statement and not solely in the acknowledgments.

Use of artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence tools, language models, and chatbots cannot be listed as authors because they cannot approve the final version, disclose conflicts of interest, or accept accountability.

Human authors are responsible for all content generated or modified using these tools and must disclose their use under AHRIE’s Use of Artificial Intelligence Policy.

Authorship changes before publication

Any request to add or remove an author or change author order after submission must:

• be submitted by the corresponding author;

• provide a detailed reason for the change;

• include written approval from all authors, including anyone added or removed;

• update the CRediT statement, conflicts of interest, and any affected metadata.

AHRIE may suspend evaluation until the request is resolved. The journal is not required to accept changes that are insufficiently justified.

Post-publication changes

Post-publication authorship changes will be exceptional and require documented justification and agreement from all affected individuals.

When a change is approved, a correction linked to the article will be published. The published version will not be altered silently.

Authorship disputes

AHRIE will seek to verify compliance with this policy but does not have authority to legally determine who deserves authorship when researchers are in dispute.

When no agreement can be reached, the journal may:

• suspend evaluation or publication;

• request a signed statement;

• refer the authors to their institutions;

• request the outcome of an institutional investigation;

• issue a correction when appropriate.

Editorial decisions may be delayed until the competent institution reports a resolution.

Accountability for false information

False authorship or contributor statements may result in manuscript rejection, suspension, correction, retraction, or communication with the relevant institutions, depending on the seriousness of the matter.