Authorship Criteria

Informatics Management, Engineering and Information System Journal (IMEISJ) is committed to maintaining academic integrity, transparency, fairness, and accountability in determining authorship of scholarly publications. Authorship must accurately reflect the intellectual contributions of individuals involved in the research and the preparation of the manuscript.

IMEISJ adopts authorship principles consistent with the recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) and the ethical publication practices promoted by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

1. Criteria for Authorship

An individual may be listed as an author of a manuscript submitted to IMEISJ only if they meet all four of the following criteria:

  1. Substantial Intellectual Contribution
    The individual has made a substantial contribution to the conception or design of the research, the development of the methodology, the acquisition of research data, or the analysis and interpretation of data.
  2. Manuscript Preparation or Critical Revision
    The individual has participated in drafting the manuscript or critically revising it for important intellectual content, including the research methodology, analysis, interpretation of findings, or theoretical and practical implications.
  3. Final Approval
    The individual has reviewed and approved the final version of the manuscript to be submitted to or published in IMEISJ.
  4. Accountability and Research Integrity
    The individual agrees to be accountable for their own contributions and to contribute to ensuring that questions concerning the accuracy, validity, or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

All four criteria must be satisfied. Individuals who meet only one or some of these criteria are not automatically entitled to authorship.

2. Contributions That Do Not Qualify for Authorship

Contributions that do not independently justify authorship include, but are not limited to:

  • Providing general supervision or administrative support.
  • Obtaining research funding without making a qualifying intellectual contribution.
  • Providing routine technical assistance, programming support, or data entry.
  • Collecting data without participating in the intellectual development, analysis, interpretation, or critical revision of the research.
  • Providing language editing, proofreading, or translation without making a qualifying intellectual contribution.
  • Providing access to research facilities, equipment, software, or institutional resources without meeting the authorship criteria.

Individuals who have made meaningful contributions but do not meet all four authorship criteria should be acknowledged in the Acknowledgments section, with their consent where appropriate.

3. Corresponding Author Responsibilities

The corresponding author serves as the primary contact between IMEISJ and the authors throughout submission, peer review, publication, and post-publication communication.

The corresponding author is responsible for:

  1. Ensuring that all listed authors meet the journal’s authorship criteria.
  2. Confirming that all authors have reviewed and approved the submitted manuscript.
  3. Obtaining the agreement of all authors to submit the manuscript to IMEISJ.
  4. Providing accurate information about each author’s full name, institutional affiliation, email address, and contribution.
  5. Ensuring that the author list and author order are agreed upon by all authors before submission.
  6. Coordinating responses to editorial and reviewer comments.
  7. Disclosing relevant conflicts of interest and ensuring that all required declarations are completed.
  8. Communicating editorial decisions and relevant publication information to all co-authors.
  9. Assisting the editorial office in resolving questions concerning authorship, research integrity, or the accuracy of the published work.

The corresponding author must not add, remove, or reorder authors without the knowledge and agreement of all affected authors.

4. Authorship Order and Contribution Transparency

The order of authors must be determined collectively by the authors based on their actual scholarly contributions and the conventions of their research discipline.

IMEISJ does not prescribe a universal contribution threshold based solely on author position. The first author, corresponding author, and other co-authors must be identified transparently, and their contributions must be consistent with the information submitted to the journal.

Where appropriate, authors are encouraged to provide a statement describing their individual contributions using the Contributor Roles Taxonomy (CRediT) or another transparent and discipline-appropriate contribution statement.

The CRediT taxonomy may be used to describe roles such as conceptualization, methodology, software, data curation, formal analysis, investigation, visualization, writing of the original draft, and review and editing. Contribution statements do not replace the requirement that every listed author satisfy all four authorship criteria.

5. Unacceptable Authorship Practices

IMEISJ does not permit the following practices:

  • Gift or Guest Authorship: Listing an individual as an author despite their failure to meet all authorship criteria.
  • Ghost Authorship: Omitting an individual who has made qualifying contributions and meets all authorship criteria.
  • Honorary Authorship: Granting authorship solely because of academic position, institutional authority, seniority, or supervisory status.
  • Misrepresentation of Contributions: Providing inaccurate or misleading information about an author’s actual contribution.
  • Unauthorized Authorship Changes: Adding, removing, or changing the order of authors without the required agreement of all affected authors.
  • AI Authorship: Listing generative artificial intelligence tools, large language models, or other AI systems as authors or co-authors.

AI tools cannot assume responsibility for the accuracy, originality, integrity, or ethical compliance of a scholarly publication. Human authors remain responsible for the content of their manuscripts and must disclose the use of AI tools in accordance with the journal’s AI-use policy.

6. Changes to Authorship

The author list and order should be finalized before manuscript submission.

Any request to add, remove, or reorder authors after submission must be made in writing to the Editor-in-Chief or the designated editor. The request must include:

  1. A clear explanation of the reason for the proposed change.
  2. A description of the relevant contributions.
  3. Written agreement from all affected authors, including any author being added or removed.
  4. Confirmation that the revised author list satisfies the journal’s authorship criteria.

IMEISJ reserves the right to suspend editorial processing while a proposed authorship change is being evaluated.

Requests made after acceptance or publication will be considered only when justified by the circumstances and supported by appropriate documentation. Any necessary correction will be handled in accordance with the journal’s publication ethics and correction policies.

7. Authorship Disputes and Investigations

If a dispute concerning authorship arises, IMEISJ will assess the information and documentation provided by the parties involved.

The journal may request written statements, contribution records, correspondence, or clarification from the authors and their affiliated institutions.

IMEISJ does not determine institutional employment relationships or academic ownership disputes beyond its editorial responsibilities. Where necessary, the journal may refer the matter to the relevant institution and follow applicable publication ethics guidance.

Editorial processing or publication may be suspended while a significant authorship dispute remains unresolved.

8. Author Declaration

By submitting a manuscript to IMEISJ, the corresponding author confirms on behalf of all co-authors that:

  1. All listed authors meet the journal’s authorship criteria.
  2. All authors have approved the submitted manuscript and agreed to its submission to IMEISJ.
  3. The author list and order have been agreed upon by all authors.
  4. The contributions of each author have been represented accurately.
  5. No individual who meets the authorship criteria has been intentionally omitted.
  6. Any relevant use of AI tools and any potential conflicts of interest have been disclosed in accordance with the journal’s policies.
  7. All authors agree to cooperate with reasonable editorial inquiries concerning the accuracy, originality, and integrity of the manuscript.

IMEISJ reserves the right to investigate suspected authorship misconduct and take appropriate editorial action in accordance with its publication ethics policies and applicable guidance.

9. Editorial Enforcement

IMEISJ evaluates authorship in accordance with the principles of transparency, accountability, and research integrity.

If an authorship violation is suspected, the journal may request clarification, seek supporting documentation, suspend editorial processing, reject the manuscript, issue a correction, or take other appropriate action consistent with the circumstances and applicable publication ethics guidance.

All authors are expected to cooperate with editorial investigations and provide accurate information regarding their contributions.

The ultimate responsibility for the integrity of the published work rests with the human authors.