Authorship Policy

Authorship Definition: The Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) definition of authorship refers to an individual or group of individuals who create an idea or develop the publication disseminating that intellectual or creative work (see COPE Council, 2019). Every individual credited as an author must carry responsibility and accountability.

Authorship Criteria: According to the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), any listed author must meet the following authorship criteria:

Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; AND
Drafting the work or reviewing it critically for important intellectual content; AND
Final approval of the version to be published; AND
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.

By submitting the manuscript to JAFESS, all listed authors must have agreed to have their name attributed. However, a machine such as an AI tool does not meet the ethical authorship criteria. Read more on the AI Policy.

Avoidance: Ghost/guest/gift authorship is not accepted. Any attempt to include ghost/guest/gift authorship will raise a red flag to the editorial process and be subject to investigation following COPE guidance (see COPE Council, 2021).