Purpose
Authorship gives credit and carries accountability. This policy explains who qualifies as an author, how contributions are described, how changes are handled and how disputes are resolved. It follows the authorship criteria of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). It is also meant to be fair to researchers and clinicians in Liberia and West Africa, including local partners in international studies.
Who is an author?
An author must meet all four ICMJE criteria:
- Made a substantial contribution to the conception or design of the work, or to the acquisition, analysis or interpretation of data; and
- Drafted the work or revised it critically for important intellectual content; and
- Approved the final version to be published; and
- Agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work, ensuring that questions about accuracy or integrity of any part are properly investigated and resolved.
Each author must be able to say what they did and who else is responsible for other parts of the work, and should trust the integrity of their co-authors’ contributions.
Not sufficient for authorship alone: obtaining funding, collecting data or patients, general supervision of a group, being head of a department, providing materials, performing routine technical work or only language editing. Such contributors are named in the Acknowledgements with their permission.
Fairness and inclusion
- Researchers and clinicians who did the work in the place where the research was done, including local partners, community researchers and trainees, must be considered for authorship and included when they meet the criteria.
- Gift, ghost and guest authorship is not allowed: no one is listed for status, seniority or favour, and no qualifying contributor is left out.
- Authors decide the order of names among themselves before submission and settle disagreements; the journal does not set order.
- Medical writers, and anyone who contributed substantially to writing, must be acknowledged, with their funding, and cannot be listed as authors unless they meet all criteria.
Contributor statement
Every manuscript must include a statement of each author’s contributions, for example by using the CRediT taxonomy or a short sentence: “A.B. designed the study; C.D. collected data; E.F. analysed; all authors drafted and approved.” The statement also names a guarantor: the author who accepts overall responsibility for the integrity of the work.
The corresponding author
One corresponding author acts for all authors during submission, review, production and after publication. They must:
- confirm that all listed authors meet the criteria and have agreed to the submission and to the order of names;
- ensure the declarations, funding, competing interests and acknowledgements are complete and accurate;
- respond to editors and readers, and share data on request;
- keep all authors informed of decisions and revisions.
All authors should provide an email address, and an ORCID iD is encouraged.
Group, consortium and collaborative authorship
Large collaborations name the group and list the individual members who meet the criteria, with a clear statement of who is responsible. Group members who do not meet the criteria are listed in the Acknowledgements or an appendix. The group’s named guarantors take responsibility for the work.
AI and authorship
AI tools cannot be authors because they cannot take responsibility for the work. Authors are accountable for everything in the manuscript and must follow the LMDAJ AI Policy.
Changes in authorship
- All requests to add, delete or reorder authors before publication must come in writing from the corresponding author, with the reason and with signed agreement from all authors, including the one being added or removed.
- After acceptance, changes are only considered in exceptional cases. After publication a correction is published (Corrections Policy).
- The editor may ask for the institution’s help to resolve disagreements. Review may be paused during this time.
- Name changes: authors may request a change of name at any time, including for reasons of gender identity, marital status, religion or personal choice. The journal will update the article confidentially, without a correction notice, unless the author asks for one.
Disputes
The journal does not decide who deserves authorship. If a dispute arises, the editor asks the authors to resolve it, may inform their institutions, and may suspend editorial decisions until it is resolved. Complaints after publication are handled under the Publication Ethics Policy.
Submission statements
By submitting, the corresponding author confirms that:
- all authors have seen and approved the final manuscript and agree to submit it;
- the work is original and not under consideration elsewhere;
- no one who meets the criteria has been omitted;
- all contributors who do not meet the criteria are acknowledged with their permission.
Contact
Questions about authorship: the Contact the Editorial Office page.
Appendix A: Contribution statement template (CRediT roles)
Conceptualisation · Data curation · Formal analysis · Funding acquisition · Investigation · Methodology · Project administration · Resources · Software · Supervision · Validation · Visualisation · Writing – original draft · Writing – review & editing.
Example: “AB: conceptualisation, investigation, writing – original draft. CD: data curation, formal analysis. EF: supervision, writing – review & editing. Guarantor: AB.”
Appendix B: Authorship change request form (outline)
Manuscript ID/title · Requested change (add / remove / reorder / name change) · Reason · Contribution of the person added · Signed agreement from every author including the one added or removed · Date.