Authorship

Authors’ responsibility

The authors of each manuscript are asked to confirm that:

  1. The manuscript has not been previously published or submitted elsewhere;
  2. They made a significant contribution to the work and approved the final version of the manuscript;
  3. Their work complies with ethical standards;
  4. They are accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved;
  5. They have obtained all necessary permissions to publish any figures or tables in the manuscript, and assure that the authors will pay for Article Processing Charges (APC) if applicable.

 

Authorship criteria

We require authors to refer to the criteria recommended by ICMJE for defining authorship:

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

We require all those designated as authors to meet all four criteria for authorship, and all who meet the four criteria should be identified as authors. Those who contributed to some parts but do not meet all four criteria should be acknowledged. The corresponding author should obtain written permission to be acknowledged from all individuals to whom acknowledgment is applicable.

 

Changes to authorship

If there is any change in authorship after the initial submission, approval from all authors must be presented. This applies to additions, deletions, change of order to the authors, or contributions being attributed differently. Any change must be explained to the Editor. The Editor may seek ascertainment from any of the authors regarding whether they have agreed to any change.

When disagreements among authors arise, STEMedicine follows the guidance of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).