Authorship and Contributor

          1. Authorship

The International Journal of Care Scholars (IJCS) follow the guidelines of The  International Committee for Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE)  Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals (ICMJE Recommendations 2018), which stated that authorship should be based on the following criteria:

• Making substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or to the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; AND
• Drafting the work or critically revising it for important intellectual content; AND
• Providing final approval of the version to be published; AND
• Agreeing to be accountable for all aspects of the work, ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Additionally for being accountable for their own contributions, authors should be able to identify which co-authors are responsible for specific other parts of the work and should have confidence in the integrity of their co-authors' contributions. In IJCS, ONLY ONE CORRESPONDING AUTHOR IS DESIGNATED PER ARTICLE. Any additional contribution details (e.g., equal contribution) should be included in the contributors or acknowledgment sections at the end of the article.

The International Journal of Care Scholars (IJCS) requires that all designated authors meet all four ICMJE criteria for authorship, and all who meet these criteria should be identified as authors. IJCS recognize only natural persons over 18 years of age as authors. These authorship criteria are intended to ensure that those who deserve credit and can take responsibility for the work are granted authorship. The criteria are not intended to disqualify colleagues who meet the authorship criteria but have not been given the opportunity to fulfill all criteria. Therefore, all individuals who meet the first criterion should have the opportunity to participate in the review, drafting, and final approval of the manuscript.

The individuals conducting the work are responsible for identifying who meets these criteria, ideally at the planning stage, and making modifications as the work progresses. The corresponding author takes primary responsibility for communication with the journal during the manuscript submission, peer review, and publication process. This also includes ensuring that all the journal’s administrative requirements are properly completed, such as providing details of authorship, ethics committee approval, clinical trial registration documentation, and gathering conflict of interest forms and statements, although these duties may be delegated to one or more co-authors.

When a large multi-author group conducts the work, the group should ideally decide who will be an author before starting the project and confirm the authorship before submitting the manuscript for publication. All group members named as authors should meet all four criteria for authorship, including approval of the final manuscript. They should be able to take public responsibility for the work and have full confidence in the accuracy and integrity of the work of their co-authors. Each author will also be expected to complete conflict-of-interest disclosure forms. At IJCS, authors to are required confirm that all listed authors meet the authorship criteria and that no one who meets the criteria has been omitted. In cases of disagreements among authors, the IJCS follow guidance from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

          2. Contributorship

The International Journal of Care Scholars (IJCS) includes a list of contributors, some of whom may not be listed as authors, at the end of the paper, detailing their roles in planning, execution, conducting, and reporting the work. This section known as “Contribution Statement”, will acknowledge contributions from patients or members of the public who have assisted as research volunteers, or technical support staff by listing their names and specifying their roles. IJCS encourage authors to openly discuss and fully acknowledge the contributions of patients, technical support staff or the public to their research when applicable. The authors have to reinforce adherence to ethical standards in attributing contributions accurately and avoiding honorary or guest authorship. The IJCS will follow the guidelines of COPE in addressing any disputes or misconduct on addressing countributorship.

          3. Alteration To Authorship or Contributorship

Approval from all authors is required for any changes in authors and/or contributors subsequent to the initial submission. This includes additions, deletions, changes in the order of authors, or alterations in the attribution of contributions. Any modifications must be communicated to the editor, who reserves the right to contact any of the authors and/or contributors to confirm their agreement to the alterations.

          4. Group Authorship

In cases where there is a considerable number of authors, we may request confirmation that all listed individuals meet the ICMJE criteria for authorship. If this requirement is met, we may then stipulate that the authors establish a group whose collective name will be included in the article's byline.