Policy on Authorship and Contributions

The Critical Patient Journal (RDC) recognizes that the authorship of a scientific publication constitutes a recognition of the intellectual contribution to the research carried out and implies public responsibility for the integrity, rigor and accuracy of the published work.

The attribution of authorship must reflect in a fair, transparent and rigorous way the effective participation of each author in the conception, development, execution, analysis, writing and approval of the manuscript, in accordance with the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE).

 

⮚      Authorship Criteria

The RDC adopts the authorship criteria defined by the ICMJE. To be identified as an author, each participant must meet all of the following criteria:

●        Have contributed substantially to the conception or design of the study, or to the acquisition, analysis or interpretation of the data;

●        Have participated in the writing of the manuscript or in its critical revision with relevant intellectual contribution;

●        Have approved the final version of the manuscript to be published;

●        Take responsibility for the accuracy, completeness and reliability of the work, committing to collaborate in resolving any issues related to its accuracy or completeness.

Exclusive participation in obtaining funding, general supervision of research, data collection, technical support, linguistic revision or administrative support is not, in itself, a sufficient criterion for authorship.

 

⮚      Corresponding Author

Each manuscript must identify a Corresponding Author, responsible for the official communication between the authors and the Journal throughout the editorial process and after publication.

It is incumbent upon the Corresponding Author:

●        Ensure that all authors meet the authorship criteria adopted by the RDC;

●        Confirm that all authors participated in the preparation of the work, approved the final version of the manuscript and agreed with its submission and eventual publication;

●        Ensure that all declarations, authorizations and documents required by the Journal are correctly submitted;

●        Act as an interlocutor of the Editorial Team during the process of evaluation, review, editorial production and publication;

●        Respond, after publication, to requests for clarification, corrections, expressions of concern or retractions related to the article.

The designation of Corresponding Author does not imply a greater scientific contribution nor does it change the individual responsibility of each author for the published content.

 

⮚      Authors' Contribution Statement

The RDC adopts the CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) Taxonomy for the description of individual authors' contributions.

At the time of submission, the Article Form and Authors' Contribution must be submitted, identifying the specific contributions of each author, using, whenever possible, the categories of the CRediT Taxonomy.

The statement of contributions will be published together with the article, whenever the editorial policy of the Journal so determines.

⮚      Changes to the List of Authors

Any request for addition, removal or alteration of the order of authors must be submitted by the Corresponding Author, in writing and duly substantiated.

For this purpose, the document Request for Change of Authorship, made available by the Critical Patient Journal, duly completed and signed by all the authors involved, must be submitted.

The request must include:

●        The justification for the proposed amendment;

●        The written agreement of all authors initially identified and of authors whose inclusion, exclusion or change of order is proposed;

●        Any additional elements that the editorial team deems necessary to assess the request.

After acceptance of the manuscript, changes to the list of authors will only be admitted in exceptional circumstances, duly justified and subject to the approval of the Editor-in-Chief.

After the publication of the article, any changes to authorship can only be made through the publication of an editorial correction, when duly justified and in accordance with the recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the editorial policies of the Journal.

 

⮚      Acknowledgments

People who have contributed to the scientific work, but who do not meet all the criteria for authorship, should be mentioned in the "Acknowledgments" section, with their consent, when applicable.

Contributions related to, among others, technical support, linguistic revision, administrative support, data collection, specialized consultancy, financing or institutional supervision may be recognized.

 

⮚      Unacceptable Authorship Practices

The RDC does not accept authorship practices contrary to scientific integrity, namely:

●        Guest or honorary authorship, corresponding to the inclusion of authors without sufficient scientific contribution;

●        Authorship by gift authorship, corresponding to the attribution of authorship by courtesy, hierarchy or institutional convenience;

●        Hidden authorship (ghost authorship), corresponding to the omission of people who have contributed significantly to the work and who meet the criteria for authorship.

The identification of these practices may determine the adoption of the measures provided for in the Journal's Scientific Misconduct Policy.

 

⮚      Disputes Concerning Authorship

The responsibility for defining authorship rests exclusively with the authors and their respective institutions.

Whenever disputes regarding authorship arise, the RDC may request clarifications and additional documentation, suspending the editorial process until the situation is resolved between the authors or by the competent institutions.

The Journal does not act as an arbitral entity in authorship conflicts, limiting itself to applying its editorial policies and the recommendations of the ICMJE and COPE.

 

⮚      Commitment to Scientific Integrity

This policy reflects the commitment of the Critical Patient Journal to transparency, the individual and collective responsibility of authors, the correct attribution of authorship and the integrity of scientific publication, and is aligned with the recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the CRediT Taxonomy.