Authorship-AI

Who qualifies as an author

Authorship requires a substantial contribution to the conception, design, execution or interpretation of the work; involvement in drafting or critically revising the manuscript; approval of the version submitted; and agreement to be accountable for the work. Contributions that do not meet all four conditions — providing materials, funding, routine measurement, or general supervision alone — should be recognised in the Acknowledgements rather than by authorship.

Contributor statement

Manuscripts with more than one author must include a contributor statement describing what each author did. We recommend the CRediT taxonomy.

Changes to authorship

Any change to the author list after submission requires the written agreement of all authors, including the person being added or removed, and an explanation to the editor. Authorship cannot be changed after acceptance except by correction notice.

Corresponding author

The corresponding author is responsible for communication with the journal, for confirming that all authors have approved the submission, and for responding to queries after publication. An ORCID iD is required for the corresponding author.

Use of generative AI

Authors may use AI tools for language editing, and need not declare that use. Any use that goes beyond language — generating text that forms part of the scientific argument, producing figures or images, analysing or interpreting data, or writing analysis code that materially affects the results — must be declared in a short statement in the Methods or Acknowledgements naming the tool, the version, and what it was used for.

Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy of everything in the manuscript, including anything produced with the assistance of a tool. Fabricated references or invented data traceable to an AI tool are treated as research misconduct.

Reviewers and editors must not upload manuscripts under consideration to generative AI services. Submitted work is confidential.