Authors are responsible and accountable for the accuracy, integrity, and ethical conduct of all aspects of the published work. They must promptly address any concerns in accordance with the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) and COPE standards.
1. Authorship Criteria
Authorship is limited to individuals who meet all ICMJE criteria: (1) substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work, or to data acquisition, analysis, or interpretation; (2) drafting or critically revising the manuscript for important intellectual content; (3) final approval of the version to be published; and (4) agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work. All authors must meet these criteria. Author contributions must be described using the CRediT taxonomy, and the order of authorship must be agreed upon before submission.
Individuals who contributed to the work but do not meet authorship criteria must be acknowledged in the acknowledgments and not listed as authors.
2. Corresponding Author
At least one corresponding author must be designated to manage all communications with the journal during submission, peer review, and publication and to approve the final proofs.
3. Ethical Approval and Consent
All research involving human participants or animals must comply with institutional, national, and international ethical standards. Approval from an Institutional Review Board (IRB) or Ethics Committee and informed consent must be obtained and documented where applicable. Clinical trials must be registered in a publicly accessible registry prior to enrollment.
4. Originality and Data Transparency
Manuscripts must be original and not under consideration elsewhere. Editors may request access to the underlying data for verification, and authors should be prepared to share data in accordance with the journal's policy.
5. Conflicts of Interest
All authors must disclose any financial or nonfinancial conflicts of interest.
6. Changes in Authorship
Any change (addition, deletion, or rearrangement) in authorship after submission or publication requires written approval from all authors and will be assessed by the editorial office in accordance with COPE guidance. Such changes should be made only before acceptance. The journal editor must approve any authorship changes. Approved changes after publication will be addressed through a corrigendum, while unauthorized changes to authorship may result in rejection of the manuscript or retraction of the published article.
7. Group and Deceased Authorship
For group authorship, individuals who assume direct responsibility for the manuscript must be identified and meet the authorship criteria. If an author is deceased, the editorial office must be notified, and the author’s contributions and conflicts of interest must be confirmed, in line with COPE recommendations.