Authorship Criteria and Contributorship

1. Policy Statement

Khatulistiwa Nursing Journal (KNJ) is committed to ensuring transparency, fairness, accountability, and integrity in authorship and the reporting of scholarly contributions. In accordance with the principles of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), KNJ requires clear identification of authors and transparent disclosure of their contributions to submitted and published manuscripts.

Authorship recognizes both scholarly contribution and responsibility for the published work. Individuals listed as authors must have made substantial intellectual contributions, participated in manuscript preparation or critical review, approved the final version, and agreed to be accountable for the integrity and accuracy of the work.

KNJ encourages the use of the Contributor Roles Taxonomy (CRediT) to describe the specific contributions of each author. CRediT complements the journal's authorship criteria but does not independently determine authorship eligibility.

2. Authorship Eligibility Criteria

KNJ adopts the following four criteria for authorship. All individuals designated as authors must meet all four criteria:

1. Substantial contribution: The individual has made a substantial contribution to the conception or design of the work, or to the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of research data.
2. Manuscript preparation or critical review: The individual has participated in drafting the manuscript or critically reviewing it for important intellectual content.
3. Final approval: The individual has approved the final version of the manuscript to be submitted or published.
4. Accountability: The individual agrees to be accountable for all aspects of the work and to ensure that questions concerning the accuracy or integrity of any part of the research are appropriately investigated and resolved.

All four criteria must be fulfilled. Individuals who meet the first criterion must be given an appropriate opportunity to participate in manuscript preparation or critical review and final approval, rather than being excluded from authorship without such an opportunity.

3. Contributors Who Do Not Qualify for Authorship

Individuals whose contributions do not meet all authorship criteria should not be listed as authors but may be acknowledged appropriately, with their contributions clearly described.

Examples of contributions that do not, by themselves, justify authorship include:

• Providing general supervision or administrative support.
• Obtaining funding without making the other required scholarly contributions.
• Collecting data without substantive intellectual involvement in the work.
• Providing technical assistance, language editing, proofreading, or routine support.
• Providing equipment, materials, or facilities without other qualifying contributions.

Where appropriate, the corresponding author must obtain permission from individuals before naming them in the acknowledgements. Acknowledgement should accurately reflect the contribution and must not imply endorsement without consent.

4. Contributor Roles Taxonomy (CRediT)

KNJ encourages authors to provide a contributor statement using the Contributor Roles Taxonomy (CRediT), which comprises 14 standardized roles:

1. Conceptualization: Formulation or development of the research aims and objectives.
2. Data curation: Management, organization, documentation, and maintenance of research data.
3. Formal analysis: Application of statistical, mathematical, computational, or other formal techniques to analyze data.
4. Funding acquisition: Obtaining financial support for the research.
5. Investigation: Conducting the research, including data collection and research activities.
6. Methodology: Development or design of the methods used in the study.
7. Project administration: Coordination and management of research activities.
8. Resources: Provision of research materials, equipment, participants, instruments, or other resources.
9. Software: Development, programming, implementation, or testing of software used in the research.
10. Supervision: Oversight, leadership, or supervisory responsibility for the research.
11. Validation: Verification of the reliability, reproducibility, or accuracy of research results.
12. Visualization: Preparation of figures, tables, graphs, or other visual representations of the findings.
13. Writing – original draft: Preparation of the initial manuscript.
14. Writing – review & editing: Critical review, revision, and editing of the manuscript.

An author may contribute to multiple roles, and a role may be performed by more than one author. Authors must report only roles that accurately reflect their actual contributions.

CRediT contribution statements are intended to improve transparency and accountability. Assignment of a CRediT role alone does not automatically qualify an individual for authorship; all authorship eligibility criteria must also be satisfied.

5. Responsibilities of the Corresponding Author

The corresponding author is responsible for coordinating communication between the author group and the KNJ editorial office throughout submission, peer review, and publication.

The corresponding author must:

• Ensure that all authors meet the journal's authorship criteria.
• Confirm that all listed authors have approved the submitted manuscript and author order.
• Provide accurate names, institutional affiliations, contact information, and other required author details.
• Collect and submit an accurate CRediT contribution statement.
• Ensure that conflict-of-interest, funding, ethics approval, and other required declarations are complete and accurate.
• Ensure that all authors are informed of important editorial correspondence and decisions.
• Coordinate responses to editorial queries and requests for clarification.
• Remain available after publication to respond to questions concerning the article and cooperate with appropriate investigations when necessary.

The corresponding author must not include or exclude an individual as an author without the agreement of the relevant contributors.

6. Order of Authors

The order of authors must be discussed and agreed upon by all authors before manuscript submission. KNJ does not prescribe a universal order because appropriate ordering may vary according to disciplinary practices and the nature of the contribution.

Author order should reflect the agreement of the research team and should not be determined solely by academic rank, institutional position, seniority, or financial support.

Any changes to authorship order must be agreed upon by all authors and communicated to the editorial office when required.

7. Changes to Authorship

Requests to add, remove, or rearrange authors after manuscript submission must be explained in writing to the editorial office.

KNJ may require written confirmation of agreement from all existing authors and any author proposed to be added or removed. The journal may suspend the editorial process while the request is assessed.

Changes to authorship after acceptance or publication will be considered only when there is an appropriate justification and adequate documentation. If a dispute cannot be resolved among the authors, KNJ may refer the matter to the relevant institution or appropriate authority. The journal will not independently determine disputed institutional or employment relationships.

8. Authorship Disputes and Misconduct

KNJ takes allegations of inappropriate authorship seriously, including ghost authorship, guest or gift authorship, unjustified exclusion of contributors, and misrepresentation of individual contributions.

When a dispute arises, the editorial team will assess the available information and seek explanations from the relevant parties. The journal may consult the relevant research institution or other appropriate body when necessary.

Editorial decisions will be handled fairly, confidentially, and in accordance with the journal's publication ethics policy and relevant COPE guidance. Authorship disputes will not be resolved solely on the basis of seniority, institutional authority, or personal preference.

9. Use of Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) tools, including generative AI systems, cannot be listed as authors because they cannot assume responsibility, accountability, or provide the required approval for a manuscript.

Authors must disclose material use of AI tools in accordance with KNJ's applicable policies. Where relevant, the use of AI for writing assistance should be described in the appropriate disclosure or acknowledgements section, while use in data analysis, data generation, image creation, or other research procedures should be reported in the relevant methods or disclosure section.

All authors remain responsible for verifying the accuracy, originality, integrity, and appropriate attribution of the submitted work, including material produced with AI assistance.