Authorship Criteria

01 Principles of Authorship

JMEC recognizes authorship as an acknowledgment of substantial intellectual and scholarly contributions to a manuscript. Authorship must reflect genuine contributions to the research and the preparation of the article. All listed authors must accept responsibility for their contributions and for the integrity of the work as a whole.

The journal follows established publication ethics principles, including relevant guidance from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), in handling authorship, contributorship, and disputes.

02 Criteria for Authorship

To qualify as an author, an individual must have made a substantial scholarly contribution to the submitted work, such as one or more of the following:

• Contributing substantially to the conception or design of the study, or to the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data.
• Participating in drafting the manuscript or critically revising it for important intellectual content.
• Approving the final version of the manuscript before submission or publication.
• Agreeing to be accountable for their own contributions and to help ensure that questions concerning the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Individuals listed as authors should satisfy all applicable criteria above. Contributions that do not meet the authorship criteria should be acknowledged appropriately rather than treated as authorship.

03 Contributions That Do Not Qualify

The following contributions alone are generally insufficient to justify authorship:

• Providing funding, administrative support, or general supervision without a substantial scholarly contribution.
• Collecting data or providing access to research facilities without further intellectual involvement.
• Offering language editing, proofreading, or technical assistance alone.
• Holding a senior academic position, supervising a project, or belonging to an institution involved in the research.

Such contributions may be recognized in the Acknowledgments section, with the individual's permission where appropriate.

04 Corresponding Author Responsibilities

The corresponding author serves as the primary contact between the editorial office and all co-authors throughout submission, peer review, revision, and publication. The corresponding author is responsible for:

• Ensuring that all listed authors meet the journal's authorship criteria.
• Obtaining approval from all co-authors for the submitted and final versions of the manuscript.
• Providing accurate author names, institutional affiliations, and contact information.
• Disclosing relevant conflicts of interest, funding sources, and other required declarations.
• Communicating editorial decisions and requests to all co-authors.
• Ensuring that all authors agree with the order of authorship before submission.

05 Author Order and Contributions

The order of authors should be determined collectively by the authors based on their respective scholarly contributions and applicable disciplinary conventions. JMEC does not impose a universal author-ordering system. All authors must agree on the final order before submission.

Authors are encouraged to provide a clear statement of individual contributions. Where appropriate, the journal may use the Contributor Roles Taxonomy (CRediT) to describe contributions, including conceptualization, methodology, investigation, formal analysis, writing, supervision, and project administration.

06 Changes in Authorship

Any request to add, remove, or reorder authors after submission must be made to the editorial office by the corresponding author, with a clear explanation and written agreement from all authors affected by the proposed change, including any author being added or removed.

JMEC reserves the right to suspend editorial processing while an authorship change is being reviewed. Changes will not be approved automatically and must be consistent with publication ethics principles.

07 Ghost, Guest, and Gift Authorship

JMEC does not permit ghost authorship, guest authorship, or gift authorship.

• Ghost authorship: omitting an individual who made a qualifying contribution to the work.
• Guest authorship: listing an individual who has not made a sufficient scholarly contribution.
• Gift authorship: including a person as an author as a favor, courtesy, or response to status or position.

Suspected authorship misconduct will be assessed in accordance with the journal's publication ethics procedures and relevant COPE guidance.

08 Authorship Disputes

Authorship disputes should first be addressed by the authors and their affiliated institutions. JMEC will seek clarification and may suspend review or publication while a dispute remains unresolved. The journal will not independently determine the allocation of scholarly credit when the matter requires institutional investigation.

Where necessary, JMEC may consult the relevant institutions and follow applicable COPE recommendations to determine appropriate editorial action.

09 Artificial Intelligence and Authorship

AI tools, including generative AI systems, cannot be listed as authors because they cannot take responsibility for the work, approve the final manuscript, or respond to questions concerning its integrity.

Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, integrity, and proper attribution of all submitted content. Any use of AI tools must be disclosed when required by JMEC's AI policy or submission guidelines. Authors must verify AI-generated content and ensure that no fabricated references, unsupported claims, or improperly reproduced material are included in the manuscript.