Authorship

Last Updated: October 2026

This policy is part of the Editorial Policies.

Authorship Criteria

ETFLIN adheres strictly to the standards set by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). Authorship credit should be based on substantial contributions to the research and manuscript preparation.

To be recognized as an author, an individual must meet all of the following four criteria:

1. Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work. 
2. Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content.
3. Final approval of the version to be published.
4. 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.

Note: Contributors who do not meet all four criteria should be acknowledged in the "Acknowledgments" section rather than listed as authors.

Inappropriate Authorship and Acknowledgments

Authorship must reflect genuine scholarly contributions and must not be granted solely on the basis of seniority, position, funding, supervision, or institutional affiliation. Gift, guest, honorary, ghost, and coercive authorship are unacceptable. Individuals who provide technical assistance, administrative support, funding, or general supervision without meeting all authorship criteria should be acknowledged appropriately rather than listed as authors. AI tools or software cannot be listed as authors because they cannot take responsibility for the integrity and accuracy of the work.

Authors are responsible for agreeing on the author list and order before submission and for ensuring that all eligible contributors are appropriately recognized. Individuals named in the Acknowledgments section should have their permission obtained before being identified.

Role of the Corresponding Author

The corresponding author acts as the primary point of contact between the journal and all co-authors during the submission, peer review, and publication process.

Key responsibilities include:

1. Ensuring that all listed authors meet the authorship criteria.
2. Managing communication with the journal and responding to editorial queries in a timely manner.
3. Providing accurate institutional affiliations and contact details for all contributors.
4. Coordinating the disclosure of potential conflicts of interest on behalf of the authorship group.
5. Ensuring that all authors have reviewed and approved the final version of the manuscript before submission.

Author Approval and Accountability

At submission, the corresponding author must confirm that all listed authors have approved the author list, author order, affiliations, contribution statements, and the submitted version of the manuscript. All authors must agree to the submission and accept responsibility for their contributions and for cooperating in the investigation and resolution of questions concerning the accuracy or integrity of the work.

ETFLIN may request direct confirmation from individual authors or additional documentation when authorship, consent to submission, or contributor information requires verification.

Contributor Roles

To ensure transparency, ETFLIN encourages the use of the CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy). This system allows authors to provide a detailed description of their individual contributions (e.g., Conceptualization, Methodology, Software, Validation, Formal Analysis, etc.).

The authors collectively are responsible for ensuring that these roles are accurately assigned and that no individual who contributed significantly is omitted.

CRediT contributor roles must accurately reflect each individual's actual contribution to the work. Assigning a contributor role does not, by itself, establish eligibility for authorship. Authors are responsible for reviewing the contribution statement collectively and ensuring that it is consistent with the authorship criteria and the work reported in the manuscript.

Group and Multicenter Authorship

For multicenter studies conducted by a large collective, the group may be listed as an author. However, a formal agreement must be established early in the research phase to define roles, credit distribution, and data sharing rights.

If the group name is listed as the author, the names of the individual members who satisfy the authorship criteria should be clearly identified in the manuscript, typically in a footnote or acknowledgment section.

All members included in group authorship must fulfill the journal’s authorship criteria.

Changes to Authorship

Requests to add, remove, or reorder authors, or to change the corresponding author, must include a clear justification and written agreement from all affected authors and any other authors whose approval is required by the journal. The journal may request an updated contribution statement and supporting documentation.

To request such a change, the corresponding author must provide: (a) the reason for the change and (b) written confirmation (e-mail or letter) from all authors that they agree with the addition, removal, or rearrangement. Please submit the following Authorship Change Request Form to the journal’s editorial email.Kirimkan Authorship Change Request Form berikut ke email editorial jurnal.

Changes requested after acceptance will be considered only in exceptional circumstances and are subject to editorial approval. If an authorship change is requested after publication, the journal will assess the request and, if approved, correct the published record through an appropriate formal notice. Authorship changes will not be made solely to resolve funding, administrative, or institutional preferences.

Authorship Disputes

Any disagreement concerning authorship eligibility, author order, contributor recognition, or changes to the author list should first be addressed by the individuals and institutions involved. ETFLIN may request written explanations and relevant documentation from the parties concerned.

Where a dispute cannot be resolved through clarification, the journal may refer the matter to the relevant institution or competent authority for investigation. The journal will not independently determine disputed contributions when an institutional investigation is necessary. Editorial processing or publication may be suspended while a material authorship dispute remains unresolved. Any subsequent action will be based on the available evidence and the outcome of the relevant investigation, where applicable.

Conflicts of Interest and Affiliations

Transparency is fundamental to the integrity of the published record. Authors must list their correct institutional affiliations where the research was conducted and disclose any financial or personal relationships that could influence their work.

Failure to disclose potential conflicts of interest or providing misleading affiliation information may lead to the rejection of the manuscript or a post-publication correction/retraction.

Authors must also disclose all sources of funding or financial support related to the research.