Authorship Policy

Purpose

Verdant Legacy Publications is committed to promoting transparency, accountability, and integrity in scholarly authorship. This Authorship Policy establishes the criteria for authorship, contributor recognition, author responsibilities, and procedures for authorship changes. The policy aims to ensure that all individuals who have made substantial scholarly contributions receive appropriate credit while preventing unethical authorship practices.

Authorship Principles

Authorship carries both credit and responsibility. Individuals listed as authors must have made significant intellectual contributions to the research and must be willing to take public responsibility for the content of the published work.

All authors share responsibility for the accuracy, integrity, and reliability of the research presented.

Authorship Criteria

To qualify for authorship, an individual should have made substantial contributions to one or more of the following:

• Conceptualization and design of the study.
• Data collection or investigation.
• Methodology development.
• Data analysis and interpretation.
• Drafting of the manuscript.
• Critical revision of intellectual content.
• Supervision of the research project.

In addition, all authors must:

• Approve the final version of the manuscript.
• Agree to its submission and publication.
• Accept accountability for their contributions.
• Cooperate in addressing questions related to the accuracy or integrity of the work.

Individuals who do not meet authorship criteria should not be listed as authors.

Contributor Roles (CRediT Taxonomy)

Verdant Legacy Publications encourages the use of the Contributor Roles Taxonomy (CRediT) to describe individual author contributions.

The recognized contributor roles include:

Conceptualization

Development of research ideas, objectives, and study design.

Methodology

Creation or development of methods, procedures, and analytical approaches.

Software

Development of software, code, computational tools, or programming resources.

Validation

Verification of results, reproducibility, and data accuracy.

Formal Analysis

Application of statistical, mathematical, or computational analyses.

Investigation

Performance of experiments, fieldwork, observations, or data collection.

Resources

Provision of materials, equipment, facilities, samples, or other resources.

Data Curation

Management, organization, and maintenance of research data.

Writing – Original Draft

Preparation and drafting of the initial manuscript.

Writing – Review and Editing

Critical review, revision, and improvement of the manuscript.

Visualization

Preparation of figures, illustrations, diagrams, and graphical presentations.

Supervision

Oversight and leadership of research activities.

Project Administration

Management and coordination of research activities.

Funding Acquisition

Obtaining financial support for the research project.

Author Contribution Statement

Authors are required to provide a contribution statement describing the role of each author.

A typical example is:

“Author Contributions: Z.Y. conceptualized the study and supervised the project. M.A. and F.H. conducted data collection and analysis. A.R. prepared the original draft. Z.Y. and S.K. reviewed and edited the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.”

Contribution statements promote transparency and accountability in scholarly publishing.

Corresponding Author Responsibilities

The corresponding author is responsible for:

• Managing communication with the journal.
• Ensuring all authors meet authorship criteria.
• Obtaining approval from all co-authors before submission.
• Coordinating manuscript revisions.
• Communicating editorial decisions to co-authors.
• Ensuring the accuracy of author information.

The corresponding author acts as the primary contact throughout the submission, review, and publication process.

Acknowledgments

Individuals who contributed to the research but do not meet authorship criteria should be recognized in the Acknowledgments section.

Examples may include:

• Technical assistance.
• Administrative support.
• Language editing.
• Data collection assistance.
• Financial support not qualifying for authorship.

Acknowledged individuals should provide consent before being named.

Unacceptable Authorship Practices

The following practices are considered unethical:

Gift Authorship

Listing an individual who did not make a substantial scholarly contribution.

Guest Authorship

Including a well-known researcher solely to enhance publication prospects.

Ghost Authorship

Excluding individuals who made substantial contributions and should be recognized as authors.

Purchased Authorship

Offering authorship in exchange for payment, favors, or other non-scholarly considerations.

Such practices may result in manuscript rejection, correction, retraction, or institutional notification.

Changes to Authorship

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

• Be submitted in writing.
• Include a detailed explanation.
• Be approved by all listed authors.
• Be reviewed by the Editor-in-Chief.

Editors may request supporting documentation before approving authorship changes.

Authorship changes after acceptance are discouraged and will be considered only under exceptional circumstances.

Disputes Regarding Authorship

Authorship disputes should ideally be resolved by the authors and their institutions before submission.

Where disputes arise during review or publication, editors may:

• Suspend manuscript processing.
• Request institutional investigation.
• Seek clarification from all parties.

Verdant Legacy Publications does not adjudicate authorship disputes but may require evidence of institutional resolution.

Compliance with Ethical Standards

This policy is consistent with the recommendations of:

• Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)
• International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE)
• Contributor Roles Taxonomy (CRediT)
• Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)

Policy Review

This policy may be reviewed periodically to ensure alignment with evolving publishing standards and best practices.

Contact Information

Questions regarding authorship, contributor roles, or authorship changes may be directed to:

Verdant Legacy Publications Email: editorial@verdantlegacy.org

Website: https://verdantlegacy.com