1. The Four ICMJE Authorship Criteria
In accordance with guidelines from the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) and the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), authorship is strictly reserved for individuals who meet all four criteria:
- Substantial contributions: Conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; AND
- Drafting or revising: Drafting the work or reviewing it critically for important intellectual content; AND
- Final approval: Final approval of the version to be published; AND
- Accountability: 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.
Acquisition of funding, collection of data, or general supervision of the research group alone does not constitute authorship. Individuals who do not meet all four criteria should be listed in the Acknowledgments section.
2. Role of the Corresponding Author
The Corresponding Author assumes primary responsibility for communication with the journal during manuscript submission, peer review, and publication. Responsibilities include:
- Ensuring that all listed authors have approved the final manuscript and agreement to its submission.
- Verifying author affiliations, contact emails, and ORCID iDs.
- Providing all required ethics approval documentation, clinical trial registry numbers, and competing interest disclosures.
- Handling post-publication inquiries, data sharing requests, and correspondence with the scientific community.
3. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning Tools
Scholix strictly adheres to COPE guidelines regarding generative AI tools (such as ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Copilot):
- AI tools cannot be listed as authors: Authorship requires intellectual accountability, which cannot be assumed by software.
- Transparency in disclosure: If generative AI or AI-assisted technologies were used in study design, coding, data analysis, or manuscript preparation, authors must explicitly disclose this in the Methods or Acknowledgments section, describing the tool, version, and prompt context.
- Human accountability: Authors are fully responsible for the accuracy, validity, and integrity of any content generated with AI assistance, including citations and bibliographic sources.
4. Changes in Authorship & Ghost/Guest Authorship
Any addition, deletion, or rearrangement of author names must be approved by all authors in writing prior to acceptance. Ghost, guest, and gift authorship are considered serious academic misconduct and are strictly prohibited across all Scholix journals.