Authorship & Contributorship Policy

Who qualifies as an author

JMCHS follows the ICMJE criteria. Each author must meet all four:

1.    Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work, or the acquisition, analysis or interpretation of data;

2.    Drafting the work or critically revising it for important intellectual content;

3.    Final approval of the version to be published; and

4.    Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

People who contributed but do not meet all four criteria — such as data collectors, field investigators, translators, ASHA or community health workers, statisticians who only ran analyses, or heads of department providing only general support — should be acknowledged by name with their permission.

Equitable authorship in research conducted in South Asia

JMCHS expects research conducted in South Asian communities to involve local researchers meaningfully. In line with the Global Code of Conduct for Research in Resource-Poor Settings, when researchers from outside the study country carry out research, local collaborators who meet authorship criteria must be included as authors, and their contributions described. Authors of such studies should explain in the cover letter how local researchers were involved in design, conduct, analysis and writing.

Contributor roles

An author contribution statement using the CRediT taxonomy is required for every article.

Corresponding author

The corresponding author submits on behalf of all authors, ensures all declarations are complete, communicates with the journal throughout review and after publication, and must provide an ORCID iD. All authors are encouraged to have ORCID iDs.

Not acceptable

•     Gift, guest or honorary authorship, including adding senior staff who did not contribute.

•     Ghost authorship, including undisclosed professional writers.

•     Buying, selling or trading authorship.

•     Listing AI tools as authors.

Changes in authorship

Any addition, removal or re-ordering of authors after submission requires a written reason and signed consent from all authors, including any author being removed. Changes after acceptance are allowed only in exceptional circumstances. Authorship disputes are referred to the authors’ institutions, following COPE guidance.