Authorship & Contributor Roles

To qualify as an author, each listed individual must meet all of the following:

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

Individuals who do not meet all criteria should be acknowledged (e.g., technical assistance, administrative support, language editing) rather than listed as authors.

Author contributions must be reported using the CRediT roles below (select all that apply per author):

• Conceptualization
• Methodology
• Software
• Validation
• Formal analysis
• Investigation
• Resources
• Data curation
• Writing – original draft
• Writing – review & editing
• Visualization
• Supervision
• Project administration
• Funding acquisition

• Serves as the guarantor for communication with the journal throughout submission, peer review, and publication.
• Ensures all authors meet ICMJE criteria and approve the final version.
• Coordinates responses to reviewer/editor comments and manages post-publication queries.

Authorship order should reflect relative contributions and be agreed upon by all authors before submission. Disputes must be resolved by the authors’ institutions; the journal does not adjudicate contribution disputes. Group authorship is acceptable when a group name is used; a guarantor should be identified.

List contributors who do not meet authorship criteria (e.g., technical support, language editing, administrative assistance) with their permission. Include funding and institutional support where relevant.

Requests to add, remove, or rearrange authors after submission must include: (i) a detailed rationale, and (ii) written confirmation from all authors (including those being added/removed). After acceptance, changes are exceptional and at the Editor’s discretion; after publication, changes are generally not made except to correct the scholarly record (with a linked notice).

ECAM does not permit honorary/gift authorship or ghostwriting. Suspected misconduct will be handled in line with COPE guidance, which may include rejection, retraction, or notification of the authors’ institutions and funders.