Authorship & Contributorship

Scientific Works (SW AzUAC) requires transparent and accurate attribution of authorship and contributions.

All listed authors must have made a meaningful intellectual contribution to the work and must accept responsibility for the content of the manuscript.

1. Authorship Criteria

An author should have made a substantial contribution to one or more aspects of the research, including:

  • conception or design of the study;

  • acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data;

  • development of methodology;

  • preparation of the original manuscript;

  • substantive critical revision of the manuscript.

All authors must approve the final version submitted for publication and agree to be accountable for their contribution to the work.

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

2. Author Contributions

Authors are required to provide a statement describing their individual contributions to the research and manuscript.

Contributions may include:

  • Conceptualization;

  • Methodology;

  • Investigation;

  • Formal analysis;

  • Data curation;

  • Software;

  • Validation;

  • Visualization;

  • Resources;

  • Writing – Original Draft;

  • Writing – Review & Editing;

  • Supervision;

  • Project administration;

  • Funding acquisition.

The contribution statement must accurately reflect the work performed by each author.

3. Corresponding Author

The corresponding author is responsible for communication between Scientific Works (SW AzUAC) and all co-authors during submission, peer review, publication, and post-publication processes.

The corresponding author must ensure that:

  • all appropriate authors are included;

  • inappropriate authors are not included;

  • all authors have approved the submitted manuscript;

  • all authors have agreed to its submission;

  • relevant conflicts of interest and funding information have been disclosed;

  • all authors are informed about significant editorial communications.

4. Changes in Authorship

Requests to add, remove, or rearrange authors after initial submission must be supported by a clear explanation.

Scientific Works (SW AzUAC) may require written agreement from all affected authors.

Changes in authorship after acceptance will only be permitted in exceptional and adequately justified circumstances.

Authorship changes requested after publication may require a formal correction notice.

5. Ghost, Guest and Gift Authorship

Scientific Works (SW AzUAC) does not permit:

Ghost authorship: failure to identify an individual who made a substantial contribution qualifying for authorship.

Guest authorship: including an individual as an author primarily to increase the apparent credibility or prestige of the work despite insufficient contribution.

Gift authorship: granting authorship to an individual who did not make an appropriate contribution to the work.

Suspected inappropriate authorship may be investigated as a publication ethics matter.

6. Acknowledgements

Individuals who contributed to the research but do not qualify for authorship should be acknowledged where appropriate.

This may include individuals who provided:

  • technical assistance;

  • administrative support;

  • language or professional editing;

  • materials or resources;

  • other forms of assistance.

Authors should obtain appropriate permission from individuals named in the Acknowledgements section.

7. Authorship Disputes

Scientific Works (SW AzUAC) will seek clarification when an authorship dispute arises but will not normally determine who legally or academically qualifies as an author when the dispute requires investigation beyond the journal's available evidence.

Where authors cannot resolve a dispute themselves, Scientific Works (SW AzUAC) may refer the matter to the relevant institution or institutions for investigation.

Editorial consideration or publication may be suspended until the dispute has been resolved.

8. Artificial Intelligence and Authorship

Artificial intelligence and AI-assisted technologies cannot be listed as authors or co-authors.

Authorship requires accountability, approval of the final manuscript, management of conflicts of interest, and responsibility for the integrity of the work—responsibilities that cannot be assigned to an AI system.

Any permitted use of generative AI or AI-assisted technologies must comply with Scientific Works (SW AzUAC)'s AI Use Policy and must be disclosed where required.

9. ORCID

Scientific Works (SW AzUAC) encourages authors to provide their ORCID iD to facilitate accurate author identification and attribution.

Authors are responsible for ensuring that their names, institutional affiliations, ORCID identifiers, and other metadata are accurate at submission.

Scientific Works (SW AzUAC) is committed to transparent authorship and contributorship practices and addresses authorship concerns in accordance with relevant COPE guidance.