Authorship and Contributorship

Authorship and Contributorship Policy

MIJST ensures that authorship accurately reflects substantial intellectual contribution while maintaining accountability for the integrity of the published work. This policy follows internationally recognized standards, including guidance from COPE and ICMJE.

1 Criteria for Authorship

An individual qualifies as an author only if they meet all of the following criteria:

• Made substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data.
• Participated in drafting the manuscript or critically revising it for important intellectual content.
• Approved the final version to be published.
• Agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work, ensuring that any questions related to accuracy or integrity are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Individuals who do not meet all four criteria should not be listed as authors.

2 Contributorship and Acknowledgments

Contributors: Individuals who provided support but did not meet authorship criteria should be listed as contributors, not authors. Such support includes:

Acknowledgments:

• Contributors must be acknowledged with their consent in the Acknowledgments section.
• Professional writers, editors, or technical assistants must also be disclosed where applicable.

3 Roles and Responsibilities

Corresponding Author: The corresponding author:

• • Serves as the primary contact with the journal.
• • Ensures all listed authors meet authorship criteria.
• • Confirms that all co-authors have approved the submission.
• • Ensures that all necessary disclosures (e.g., conflicts of interest, funding) are made.

4 Authorship Changes

Any request to add, remove, or rearrange author names must be made before the manuscript is accepted. Such requests require:

Changes after publication are generally not permitted unless to correct a genuine error.

5 Ghost, Guest, and Gift Authorship

MIJST strictly prohibits:

• Ghost Authorship: Excluding individuals who made substantial contributions.
• Guest/Gift Authorship: Including individuals who did not make a significant contribution.

6 Authorship Disputes

If a dispute arises regarding authorship, the journal will follow COPE guidelines. The journal cannot mediate disputes; they must be resolved by the authors' institutions. The editorial process will be suspended until the dispute is formally resolved.

7 Use of AI in Authorship

AI tools (such as ChatGPT) cannot be listed as authors because they cannot take legal or ethical responsibility for the work.