Authorship and Contribution Policy

DINASIF upholds transparency, accountability, and fair recognition of every contribution to scholarly work. This policy follows the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy).

1. Criteria for Authorship

Authorship is granted only to individuals who have made a genuine and significant scholarly contribution. A person may be listed as an author if they meet all of the following criteria:

• made a substantial contribution to the conception, design, execution, analysis, or interpretation of the research;
• drafted the manuscript or revised it critically;
• reviewed and approved the submitted manuscript and the final version to be published;
• agreed to be accountable for their contribution and for the integrity of the work as a whole.

Everyone who meets these criteria must be listed as an author, and anyone who does not must not be listed. Position, seniority, institutional authority, or professional relationships do not by themselves justify authorship. In manuscripts developed from a thesis, supervisors may be listed as authors if they meet the above criteria, not solely because of their supervisory role.

2. Author Contributions Statement (CRediT)

Every manuscript must include an Author Contributions section describing each author’s role using the following 14 CRediT roles:

• Conceptualization: formulating the research idea, goals, and direction;
• Methodology: designing the research methods and models;
• Software: developing, implementing, or testing software and code;
• Validation: verifying the validity and reproducibility of results;
• Formal Analysis: applying statistical, computational, or other formal techniques to analyze data;
• Investigation: conducting the research and collecting data;
• Resources: providing instruments, facilities, data, or other research resources;
• Data Curation: managing, cleaning, and maintaining research data;
• Writing – Original Draft: preparing the initial draft of the manuscript;
• Writing – Review & Editing: critically reviewing, revising, and editing the manuscript;
• Visualization: preparing visualizations of data and results;
• Supervision: guiding and overseeing the planning and execution of the research;
• Project Administration: managing and coordinating research activities;
• Funding Acquisition: obtaining research funding.

An author may hold several roles, and a role may be shared by more than one author. Only roles actually performed may be listed. CRediT roles describe the type of contribution but do not by themselves determine eligibility for authorship. The statement is placed before the References and will be published with the article.

3. Corresponding Author

The corresponding author is the main point of contact between the authors and the editorial office from submission through post-publication. The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that:

• all listed authors meet the authorship criteria, and no one who meets the criteria has been omitted;
• all authors have approved the manuscript, the author list, and the author order;
• the Author Contributions Statement is accurate and agreed upon by all authors;
• author details (names, affiliations, emails, and ORCID iDs) are correct and complete;
• all statements and information provided to the editors are complete and accurate.

Upon submission, the corresponding author must sign the Publication Ethics Statement on behalf of all authors and upload it to OJS as a supplementary file. The statement confirms that the author list and order are correct and that no inappropriate authorship practices are involved. Manuscripts without a complete, signed statement may be returned to the authors before processing. The editors may request confirmation directly from individual authors when necessary.

4. Author Order and Changes in Authorship

The author list and order must be agreed upon by all authors before submission. The editors do not determine the author order.

Additions, removals, or rearrangements of authors after submission are considered only for valid reasons and must be submitted using the Author Change Form, accompanied by:

• a clear reason for the change;
• an updated Author Contributions Statement; and
• written consent from all authors, including any author being added or removed.

Once a manuscript has been accepted, changes in authorship are in principle not permitted, except to correct a demonstrable error or to address an ethical issue. Changes in authorship after publication are made transparently through a correction, as described on the Corrections & Retractions page.

5. Non-Author Contributors and Prohibited Practices

Contributors who do not meet the authorship criteria, such as data providers, those granting access to research sites, or language editors, should be acknowledged in the Acknowledgements section. DINASIF prohibits the following authorship practices:

• Guest/gift authorship: listing individuals who did not contribute adequately;
• Honorary authorship: granting authorship based on position, seniority, or reputation rather than scholarly contribution;
• Ghost authorship: omitting individuals who meet the authorship criteria.

Selling, buying, trading, or granting authorship without scholarly contribution is also prohibited.

6. Authorship Disputes

Authors are expected to resolve all authorship issues before submission. If a dispute arises during the editorial process, the editors may suspend processing of the manuscript and request clarification, contribution statements, or supporting documents from the authors. The editors assess compliance with this policy but do not adjudicate the relative size of each author’s contribution. Disputes that the authors cannot resolve may be referred to the authors’ institutions. Suspected prohibited authorship practices are handled in accordance with COPE guidelines and the Research Misconduct page, and may result in a correction or retraction.

7. Artificial Intelligence and Authorship

Generative AI tools cannot be listed as authors because they cannot take responsibility for scholarly work. Authors remain fully responsible for the entire content of the manuscript, including any parts prepared with AI assistance. The use of AI is governed by the Generative AI Policy page.