Authorship should follow the current ICMJE criteria: substantial contribution to the work; drafting or critical intellectual revision; approval of the final version; and accountability for the work. All four criteria should be met. Contributors who do not qualify as authors should be acknowledged with their permission.
The corresponding author confirms the author list, affiliations, approvals, disclosures and communication with co-authors. A contributorship statement using a recognized taxonomy such as Credit is encouraged and may be required.
Guest, honorary and ghost authorship are prohibited. Requests to add, remove or reorder authors after submission require a reason and written agreement from all affected authors. After acceptance, changes are allowed only in exceptional circumstances and may require a published notice. Deceased authors may remain authors when appropriate, with responsibility and approval handled transparently.