Authorship Contributorship Policy

CRediT Contribution Form

Author Declaration Form

Purpose

The Insights–Journal of Life and Social Sciences (IJLSS) is committed to fair authorship attribution, transparent reporting of individual contributions and accountability for published work.

This policy is informed by the authorship recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, the Contributor Roles Taxonomy, and accepted principles of publication ethics. Reference to these frameworks indicates that IJLSS follows their relevant guidance and does not imply formal membership or accreditation unless expressly stated.

Authorship Eligibility

An individual should be listed as an author only when all four of the following criteria are met:

1. Substantial contribution

The individual has made a substantial contribution to one or more of the following:

  • Conception or design of the study;
  • Acquisition of data;
  • Analysis or interpretation of data;
  • Development of the scientific or conceptual framework of the manuscript.

2. Drafting or critical revision

The individual has:

  • Drafted the manuscript; or
  • Critically revised it for important intellectual content.

3. Final approval

The individual has reviewed and approved the final version of the manuscript before submission and publication.

4. Accountability

The individual agrees to:

  • Accept responsibility for their contribution;
  • Cooperate in resolving concerns about the accuracy or integrity of the work;
  • Support correction of the scholarly record where necessary.

Individuals who contributed to the work but do not meet all four criteria should be acknowledged rather than listed as authors. Examples may include data collectors, administrative staff, technical assistants, general supervisors, language editors or funders who did not make a qualifying intellectual contribution.

Author Contribution Statement

Every manuscript must include a clear author contribution statement.

Authors should identify their roles using the following CRediT categories, where applicable:

  • Conceptualization;
  • Methodology;
  • Software;
  • Validation;
  • Formal analysis;
  • Investigation;
  • Resources;
  • Data curation;
  • Writing—original draft;
  • Writing—review and editing;
  • Visualization;
  • Supervision;
  • Project administration;
  • Funding acquisition.

The contribution statement must accurately describe the work performed by each author and must be approved by all authors before submission.

Corresponding Author Responsibilities

The corresponding author is responsible for:

  • Confirming that all listed authors meet the journal’s authorship criteria;
  • Ensuring that all authors have approved the manuscript and the authorship order;
  • Submitting the completed Author Agreement Form;
  • Providing the author contribution statement;
  • Disclosing all conflicts of interest and funding sources;
  • Providing ethical approval and informed-consent documents, where applicable;
  • Confirming compliance with the journal’s author instructions and policies;
  • Communicating with the editorial office during submission, review, revision and publication;
  • Sharing editorial decisions and reviewer comments with all co-authors;
  • Responding promptly to requests for clarification or supporting documents.

The corresponding author acts as the principal contact for the journal. However, all authors remain responsible for their individual contributions and for the integrity of the published work.

Author Agreement Form

A completed and signed Author Agreement Form is mandatory for all submissions.

By signing the form, the authors confirm that:

  • The manuscript is original;
  • It is not under consideration by another journal;
  • It has not been published previously, except where clearly disclosed and permitted;
  • All sources have been appropriately cited;
  • The work does not contain plagiarized, fabricated or falsified material;
  • The data and findings are presented accurately;
  • Ethical approval and informed consent were obtained where required;
  • All conflicts of interest and sources of funding have been disclosed;
  • All authors have approved the final version;
  • All authors consent to publication;
  • All authors accept accountability for their contributions.

Copyright and Licensing

Authors retain copyright in their work and grant IJLSS the right to publish, distribute, archive and index the article under the journal’s applicable Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.

Authors are responsible for obtaining permission to reproduce copyrighted tables, figures, photographs or other third-party material.

Data Availability

Authors must include a Data Availability Statement.

Supporting data should be made available where ethically, legally and practically permissible. Any restrictions on access must be clearly explained.

Changes in Authorship

Requests to add, remove or reorder authors after submission must include:

  • A written explanation for the proposed change;
  • Written agreement from all existing authors;
  • Written agreement from any author being added or removed;
  • An updated author contribution statement;
  • Any supporting evidence requested by the editor.

The journal will evaluate the request before approving the change. Authorship changes after acceptance or publication may require an official editorial notice.

Acknowledgements

Individuals who contributed to the work but do not qualify for authorship may be acknowledged with their permission. The nature of their contribution should be stated clearly.

Authorship Disputes and Misconduct

Authorship disputes should initially be addressed by the authors and their institutions.

Where guest authorship, ghost authorship, forged consent, misrepresentation or another authorship concern is suspected, IJLSS may:

  • Request supporting documents;
  • Suspend editorial processing;
  • Contact the relevant institution;
  • Reject or withdraw the manuscript;
  • Publish a correction or retraction where necessary.