Authorship

We define an author (or co-author) of a research article in accordance with COPE guidelines as an individual who originates or creates an idea (e.g., the author of a theory) or someone who develops and completes the work that disseminates intellectual or creative output. Authorship implies that the individual conducted the research and did not violate copyright or the rights of others.

When determining authorship, we also take into account and focus on Authorship and Authorship Responsibilities proposed by the Council of Science Editors (CSE) and Defining the Role of Authors and Contributors

Our relationship with authors is built on trust and mutual respect. This entails that, before submitting a manuscript, authors have read and accepted the journal's ethical principles, "Publishing Policies," "Editorial Policies," and terms of publication. Authors are expected to present original research findings, refrain from using others’ ideas or texts without acknowledgment, avoid submitting the same article to multiple journals simultaneously, and not exploit the expertise of the journal’s team or reviewers to enhance the manuscript for submission elsewhere. Authors must also ensure that potential conflicts of interest have been addressed and disclosed.

We trust that authors submitting to our journals include only those who genuinely contributed to the work, avoiding individuals unrelated to the research. Similarly, no author should claim credit solely due to authority, funding, or prior agreements. If financial support was involved in generating the research results, funding sources must be disclosed at the end of the article.

For articles with multiple authors, the team should designate a corresponding author in the cover letter. This author will communicate with the journal on behalf of the group and oversee the submission process. Correspondence with the journal will be shared with all co-authors to ensure transparency. In cases of significant changes to the authorship after submission, excluded authors must provide written consent, and a new cover letter signed by all co-authors must be submitted.

If the research content or complexity does not align with the number of authors, the editorial team may request a description of each author’s contribution by email. Based on this assessment, the team may suggest reducing the number of listed authors while acknowledging the contributions of excluded individuals in the article.

Contributorship refers to supporting roles in achieving scientific results. This may include participation in surveys or experiments and applies mainly to research articles rather than theoretical or observational works. Individuals or institutions contributing in these capacities must be acknowledged at the end of the article.

In all matters related to authorship and contributorship, we strictly follow COPE principles and recommendations.

Contributorship

All acknowledged individuals must consent to be named, and the Editor may request written confirmation of their consent. The individual contributions of each author should be detailed and sent via email if the Editors determine that the content or complexity of the research does not justify the number of authors.

Contributor Roles Defined (Based on CRediT):

• Conceptualization: Generating ideas and formulating or developing overarching research goals and objectives.
• Data Curation: Managing tasks such as annotating (creating metadata), cleaning, and maintaining research data (including software code when necessary for data interpretation) for initial and future use.
• Formal Analysis: Applying statistical, mathematical, computational, or other formal methods to analyze or synthesize study data.
• Funding Acquisition: Securing financial support for the project that resulted in this publication.
• Investigation: Conducting research and investigation activities, including experiments or data/evidence collection.
• Methodology: Designing the research methodology or developing models.
• Project Administration: Managing and coordinating the planning and execution of the research activities.
• Resources: Providing study materials, reagents, equipment, samples, instruments, computing resources, or other tools required for analysis.
• Software: Developing or programming software, designing computer programs, implementing computer code and algorithms, and testing code components.
• Supervision: Providing oversight and leadership for planning and executing research activities, including external mentorship.
• Validation: Verifying and ensuring the replication or reproducibility of results, experiments, or other research outputs.
• Visualization: Creating, preparing, and presenting visual representations of the published work, including data visualizations.
• Writing – Original Draft: Preparing and writing the initial draft of the work, including substantive translations.

Writing – Review & Editing: Revising, reviewing, and providing critical commentary on the published work, whether pre- or post-publication, by members of the original research team.