Authorship and Contributorship

1. Introduction

Jurnal ELTIKOM: Jurnal Teknik Elektro, Teknologi Informasi dan Komputer (ELTIKOM) is committed to upholding the highest standards of integrity, transparency, and accountability in scholarly publishing. A key component of this commitment is ensuring fair and accurate attribution of authorship and contributorship.

This policy defines the criteria for authorship, outlines the responsibilities of authors, and explains how other contributions should be acknowledged. It aims to ensure that all individuals who have made significant intellectual contributions to a manuscript are appropriately recognized, while preventing unethical authorship practices.

This policy is aligned with international standards and guidelines issued by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). Although the ICMJE criteria were originally developed for biomedical research, ELTIKOM adopts these principles as a widely accepted international standard applicable to engineering, computer science, and information technology research.

2. Description

Authorship confers academic credit and has important professional, social, and ethical implications. It also entails responsibility and accountability for the content of the published work. ELTIKOM defines an author as an individual who has made a substantial intellectual contribution to the research and the manuscript.

Contributorship refers to involvement in the research or manuscript preparation that does not meet all criteria for authorship but nevertheless warrants acknowledgment.

Unethical authorship practices undermine the integrity of the scholarly record. ELTIKOM explicitly prohibits:

Gift, Guest, or Honorary Authorship: Granting authorship to individuals who do not meet the authorship criteria, often due to seniority, reputation, or expectations of reciprocity.
Ghost Authorship: Omitting individuals who have made substantial contributions qualifying them for authorship, or failing to acknowledge contributors such as professional writers or editors.
Denial of Authorship: Excluding individuals who meet the criteria for authorship.

Transparency in reporting contributions is essential. ELTIKOM encourages clear disclosure of the roles and contributions of all individuals involved in the research and manuscript preparation.

3. Policy

3.1 Criteria for Authorship

ELTIKOM requires that all individuals listed as authors meet all of the following four criteria, adapted from the ICMJE recommendations:

Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; OR the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data; AND
Drafting the manuscript or revising it critically for important intellectual content; AND
Final approval of the version to be published; AND
Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work, ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

All individuals who meet all four criteria must be identified as authors. Individuals who do not meet all four criteria should not be listed as authors.

3.2 Non-Author Contributors (Acknowledgements)

Individuals who have contributed to the research or manuscript but do not meet the authorship criteria should be acknowledged in the Acknowledgements section. Examples include:

Acquisition of funding.
General supervision of a research group or administrative support.
Writing assistance, technical editing, language editing, or proofreading.
Data collection or technical assistance without substantial involvement in study design or data interpretation.
Provision of materials, tools, datasets, or study participants.

All individuals named in the Acknowledgements must provide explicit permission to be acknowledged. The corresponding author is responsible for obtaining this permission.

3.3 Order of Authors

The order of authorship should be a joint decision of all co-authors. ELTIKOM does not prescribe a specific order. Authors are expected to agree on the author order before submission and to be able to explain the rationale if requested.

The significance of author order (e.g., first author, corresponding author, last author) may vary across disciplines and research groups.

3.4 Corresponding Author

One author must be designated as the corresponding author, who assumes primary responsibility for communication with the journal throughout the submission, peer review, and publication process.

The corresponding author is responsible for:

Ensuring that all listed authors meet the authorship criteria.
Confirming that all authors have reviewed and approved the submitted manuscript and any revisions.
Managing communication between the journal and all co-authors.
Ensuring the accuracy of author names, affiliations, and conflict of interest disclosures.
Responding to post-publication queries, corrections, or ethical concerns.

3.5 Changes to Authorship

Requests to add, remove, or reorder authors after initial submission must be submitted to the Editor-in-Chief by the corresponding author and must include:

A clear justification for the proposed change.
Written confirmation from all authors, including those being added or removed, agreeing to the change.

Changes to authorship after manuscript acceptance are strongly discouraged and will be considered only in exceptional circumstances. If approved, ELTIKOM may publish a formal corrigendum.

3.6 Author Contributions Statement

ELTIKOM encourages and may require authors to include an Author Contributions statement describing the specific roles of each author in the research and manuscript preparation.

Authors are encouraged to use the CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) framework to promote transparency and consistency in reporting contributions.

3.7 Use of AI Tools and Writing Assistance

The use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools for language editing, data analysis, visualization, or other research support must be transparently disclosed in the manuscript.

AI tools cannot be listed as authors. Responsibility for the content, interpretations, and conclusions of the manuscript remains entirely with the human authors.

Any professional writing or editorial assistance that does not meet authorship criteria must be appropriately acknowledged, including disclosure of funding sources for such assistance.

3.8 Group Authorship and Multi-center Studies

For manuscripts submitted by research consortia or groups, the group name may appear in the author list. However, ELTIKOM requires a clear identification of individual members who meet the authorship criteria.

These individuals must accept responsibility and accountability for the work as a whole. A list of group members and their roles may be provided in the manuscript or as supplementary material.

4. Implementation and Enforcement

4.1 Authorship Declaration

Upon submission, the corresponding author must confirm that:

All listed authors meet ELTIKOM’s authorship criteria.
All authors have reviewed and approved the manuscript.
All authors consent to submission and publication.

ELTIKOM may require an Authorship Declaration Form and a detailed Author Contributions statement as part of the submission process.

4.2 Managing Authorship Disputes

Prevention:
ELTIKOM strongly encourages authors to discuss and agree upon authorship roles and author order at the start of the research project and to revisit these agreements as the project evolves.

Disputes Before Publication:
ELTIKOM does not arbitrate authorship disputes prior to publication. Authors will be asked to resolve disputes internally or through their institutions. Manuscript processing may be suspended until resolution.

Disputes After Publication:
If credible concerns regarding authorship misconduct arise after publication, ELTIKOM will investigate in accordance with COPE guidelines. Actions may include publication of a correction, expression of concern, or retraction in cases of confirmed misconduct.

4.3 Institutional Policies and Accountability

Authors are expected to comply with the authorship policies of their institutions and funding bodies. By submitting a manuscript to ELTIKOM, all authors collectively affirm their accountability for the integrity and accuracy of the work.

ELTIKOM reserves the right to request additional documentation or clarification regarding authorship and contributions at any stage of the submission or publication process.