01. ICMJE Authorship Criteria
To qualify as an author on a paper submitted to FJMRI, an individual must satisfy all four criteria established by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE):
1. Substantial Contribution
Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work.
2. Drafting or Revising
Drafting the work or reviewing and revising it critically for important intellectual content.
3. Final Approval
Final approval of the version to be published, confirming all claims, conclusions, and data points.
4. Mutual Accountability
Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to accuracy or integrity are resolved.
02. Contributor Roles Taxonomy (CRediT)
To ensure complete transparency, FJMRI encourages and requires authors to specify contributor roles using the 14 standard CRediT roles in their Declarations section:
Contributors who do not meet all four authorship criteria (such as laboratory technicians who performed routine assays or department chairs who secured space) should be named in the Acknowledgments section with their permission.
03. Unacceptable Authorship Practices
FJMRI explicitly condemns and screens against non-merit authorship practices:
- Gift / Honorary Authorship: Adding senior colleagues, department heads, or mentors who contributed no substantive intellectual effort.
- Guest Authorship: Listing prominent researchers to artificially boost manuscript prestige without their active involvement.
- Ghost Authorship: Concealing commercial medical writers, pharmaceutical representatives, or corporate consultants who drafted the text.
- AI Authorship: Crediting artificial intelligence systems (ChatGPT, Claude, etc.) as authors or co-authors.
04. Protocol for Authorship Changes
Authorship order and composition must be finalized prior to initial submission. If authors need to add, remove, or reorder authors after submission:
- The corresponding author must submit a formal written explanation justifying the requested modification.
- Written Consent Required: A completed authorship change form must be signed by all authors, including any author being added or removed.
- No changes to authorship can be made once a manuscript is formally accepted.
05. Corresponding Author Responsibilities
The corresponding author acts on behalf of all co-authors during peer review and production. They are responsible for:
- Ensuring that all listed co-authors have approved the submitted manuscript and author list.
- Timely management of revisions, proofs, and inquiries from reviewers and handling editors.
- Disseminating editorial decisions and galley proofs to all co-authors.
- Ensuring primary research data and code remain available for inquiry post-publication.
06. Conflict of Interest & Competing Interests
A conflict of interest exists when professional judgment concerning primary research validity could be influenced by secondary interests (such as financial gain, corporate employment, or personal rivalries).
Author Disclosures
Authors must state all funding sources, honoraria, patent applications, commercial employment, or stock holdings in the Declarations section. If none, write: "The authors declare no competing interests."
Reviewer Disclosures
Referees must decline assignments if they have collaborated with, mentored, or had institutional co-affiliation with authors within the preceding 3 years.