Authorship Criteria

Authorship Criteria

Policy Overview

Pedagogik Journal of Islamic Elementary School follows the publication ethics guidance of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and adopts the authorship recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). This policy promotes transparent recognition of contributions, research integrity, and accountability for published work.

1. ICMJE Four-Criteria Standard for Authorship

Every person listed as an author must meet all four criteria:

01. Substantial Intellectual Contribution

Make a substantive contribution to the study concept or design, or to obtaining, analyzing, or interpreting the data.

02. Drafting and Critical Revision

Prepare the manuscript or critically assess and revise its important intellectual content.

03. Final Approval

Approve the final version of the manuscript for publication.

04. Accountability

Accept responsibility for the work and help ensure that concerns about the accuracy or integrity of any part are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Important Note: Contributors who do not meet all four criteria should be recognized in the Acknowledgements section. Those who meet the first criterion must have an opportunity to participate in drafting, critical revision, and final approval.

2. Author Roles and Responsibilities

A. Corresponding Author

  • Coordinates communication with the journal during submission, peer review, publication, and subsequent queries. Communication with reviewers takes place through the editorial office.
  • Ensures that author details, affiliations, email addresses, ORCID iDs where required, funding information, and declarations are complete and accurate.
  • Completes required authorship statements and license agreements with the authorization of all co-authors; individual declarations remain each author's responsibility.
  • Confirms that all authors approve the submission and author order, and ensures that they approve the final version before publication.

B. Co-Authors

  • Meet all four authorship criteria and accurately describe their contributions.
  • Take responsibility for their contributions and cooperate in resolving concerns about the integrity of the work as a whole.
  • Review the manuscript, approve the final version, and disclose relevant conflicts of interest.

3. Non-Author Contributors (Acknowledgements)

Contributions that do not satisfy all four authorship criteria must be described in the Acknowledgements section. The following activities, on their own, do not establish authorship:

  • Providing funding, obtaining grants, or offering general supervision.
  • Providing technical or administrative support, facilities, or equipment.
  • Collecting or entering data without fulfilling the remaining authorship criteria.
  • Providing copyediting, proofreading, or routine translation assistance.

Authors must obtain permission from individuals before naming them in the acknowledgements.

4. Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies

AI Cannot Be an Author

Tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Copilot cannot be listed as authors or co-authors because they cannot approve a manuscript or take responsibility for its accuracy, originality, and integrity. Human authors remain accountable for all submitted content.

Disclosure Obligation

Authors must disclose AI use at submission and in the manuscript, naming the tool, its version where available, and its purpose. Writing or language assistance must be reported in a dedicated Declaration of Generative AI in the Writing Process or in the acknowledgements. AI used for data processing, analysis, coding, or other research methods must also be described in the Methods section.

Authors must check AI outputs, verify references and factual claims, and correct errors or bias before submission.

5. Authorship Misconduct and Malpractice

The journal prohibits misrepresentation of authorship, including:

  • Ghost Authorship: Omitting an eligible author or concealing significant, uncredited writing assistance.
  • Guest/Gift Authorship: Listing someone who does not meet the authorship criteria to confer a benefit or increase the manuscript's apparent authority.
  • Honorary Authorship: Assigning authorship solely because of seniority, position, or administrative standing.
  • Paper Mills and Authorship Sale: Buying, selling, or trading authorship, or submitting manuscripts supplied by paper mills.

Suspected breaches are assessed using relevant COPE guidance, and authors are asked to respond. Depending on the findings, editorial action may include rejection, correction, or retraction where justified. Unresolved authorship disputes are referred to the relevant institutions; processing may be paused while the matter is investigated.

6. Changes to Authorship

Before Publication

The corresponding author must submit a formal request to add, remove, or reorder authors after submission. The request must explain the change and include written agreement signed by all authors, including anyone being added or removed. Changes require approval from the Editor-in-Chief and must not be made unilaterally.

After Publication

Requests to change the published author list require documented reasons and written agreement from all affected authors. Approved changes are recorded through a formal Correction or Corrigendum linked to the article. If agreement cannot be reached, the journal seeks an institutional investigation before deciding how to correct the record.

7. CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy)

The journal strongly encourages an Author Contributions statement using the 14 standard CRediT roles. Contributors may hold several roles, and a role may be shared by several contributors:

  • Conceptualization
  • Data curation
  • Formal analysis
  • Funding acquisition
  • Investigation
  • Methodology
  • Project administration
  • Resources
  • Software
  • Supervision
  • Validation
  • Visualization
  • Writing – original draft
  • Writing – review & editing

CRediT describes contributions; it does not determine eligibility for authorship. Every listed author must still meet all four authorship criteria. All authors should review and agree to the contribution statement before submission.