Authorship and Contributor Roles Policy (CRediT Taxonomy)

The Journal implements a standardized approach to authorship and contributor roles based on the CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy). This approach ensures transparency, proper attribution of contributions, and alignment with international best practices, including the recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE).

1. Principles of Authorship

Authorship is limited to individuals who have made a substantial intellectual contribution to the research and manuscript preparation. All authors must:

  • contribute to the conception or design of the study, data collection, or data analysis;
  • participate in drafting or critically revising the manuscript;
  • approve the final version of the manuscript;
  • agree to be accountable for the integrity and accuracy of the work.

Individuals who do not meet these criteria should be acknowledged but not listed as authors.

2. CRediT Contributor Roles Taxonomy

Authors are required to specify their individual contributions using the CRediT taxonomy. One author may have multiple roles.

The main roles include:

  • Conceptualization – formulation of research goals and aims;
  • Methodology – development or design of methodology;
  • Software – programming and software development;
  • Validation – verification of results and reproducibility;
  • Formal Analysis – application of statistical or analytical techniques;
  • Investigation – conducting the research and data collection;
  • Resources – provision of materials, samples, or data;
  • Data Curation – data management and preparation;
  • Writing – Original Draft – preparation of the initial manuscript;
  • Writing – Review & Editing – critical revision and editing;
  • Visualization – data presentation and visualization;
  • Supervision – oversight and leadership responsibility;
  • Project Administration – project coordination;
  • Funding Acquisition – securing financial support.

3. Author Contributions Statement

Each manuscript must include a clearly defined Author Contributions section specifying the roles of each author according to the CRediT taxonomy.

To standardize submission requirements, the Journal uses the following interactive checklist:

Download EASE Interactive Checklist for Submitting Authors

Authors are required to complete this checklist and submit it together with the manuscript.

Example:

Author Contributions: Conceptualization – A.B.; Methodology – A.B., C.D.; Formal Analysis – C.D.; Writing – Original Draft – A.B.; Writing – Review & Editing – all authors.

4. Author Responsibilities

All authors share responsibility for the content of the publication. The corresponding author is responsible for:

  • ensuring that all eligible contributors are listed as authors;
  • obtaining approval from all co-authors;
  • submitting accurate information on contributions and conflicts of interest;
  • maintaining communication with the Editorial Office.

5. Changes in Authorship

Any changes in authorship (addition, removal, or rearrangement of authors) after submission are permitted only if:

  • all authors provide written consent;
  • a justified explanation for the change is provided.

The Journal reserves the right to request supporting documentation.

6. Unacceptable Authorship Practices

The Journal does not accept:

  • honorary (guest) authorship;
  • ghost authorship;
  • undisclosed contributions.

Violations may result in manuscript rejection or article retraction in accordance with COPE guidelines.

7. Integration into Author Guidelines

This policy is an integral part of the Author Guidelines. Manuscripts that do not include a properly structured Author Contributions section and/or a completed EASE checklist may be returned to the authors for revision prior to peer review.