Authorship Criteria

The Journal of Leadership, Management and Policy in Education is committed to ensuring that authorship reflects genuine scholarly contributions, accountability, and transparency. All individuals listed as authors must meet the journal's authorship criteria and take responsibility for their contributions to the published work.

 

1. Criteria for Authorship

To qualify for authorship, each individual must meet the following criteria:

  1. Substantial contribution: Have made a significant intellectual contribution to the conception or design of the study, data collection, data analysis, data interpretation, or development of the theoretical framework.

  2. Manuscript preparation or revision: Have participated in drafting the manuscript or critically revising it for important intellectual content.

  3. Final approval: Have reviewed and approved the final version of the manuscript submitted for publication.

  4. Accountability: Agree 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.

All four criteria must be fulfilled for an individual to be listed as an author.

 

2. Contributions That Do Not Qualify for Authorship

Contributions that do not independently meet the authorship criteria should be acknowledged appropriately rather than treated as authorship. These may include:

  • Providing general supervision or administrative support.

  • Securing funding without making a substantial intellectual contribution.

  • Providing routine technical assistance or data collection without significant intellectual involvement.

  • Offering language editing, proofreading, or formatting services only.

  • Holding a senior academic position or institutional affiliation without making a qualifying contribution.

Individuals who have made relevant but insufficient contributions may be recognized in the Acknowledgments section, with their permission.

 

3. Author Contributions and Order

All authors should agree on the order of authorship before manuscript submission. The order should reflect the nature and extent of each author's scholarly contribution and should be agreed upon by all authors.

The corresponding author is responsible for coordinating communication with the editorial office, ensuring that all authors have approved the submitted manuscript, and confirming that authorship information is accurate and complete.

Where appropriate, authors are encouraged to provide a statement describing each author's contribution using the Contributor Roles Taxonomy (CRediT) or another contribution-reporting format accepted by the journal.

 

4. Changes in Authorship

Any request to add, remove, or reorder authors after submission must be justified in writing and approved by all authors affected by the proposed change, including any author being added or removed.

The editorial team may request additional documentation to verify the request. Changes in authorship after acceptance or publication will be considered only when there is a valid reason and sufficient supporting evidence. If a change is approved after publication, the journal may issue an appropriate correction notice.

The journal will not approve authorship changes intended to misrepresent contributions or circumvent publication ethics requirements.

 

5. Corresponding Author Responsibilities

The corresponding author must:

  • Ensure that all listed authors meet the journal's authorship criteria.

  • Confirm that all authors have reviewed and approved the final manuscript.

  • Ensure that all authors agree to the submission and the order of authorship.

  • Disclose relevant conflicts of interest and funding sources.

  • Coordinate responses to editorial queries and requests for clarification.

  • Facilitate communication among co-authors throughout the editorial and publication process.

The corresponding author acts as the primary contact for the journal but does not assume sole responsibility for the integrity of the work on behalf of the other authors.

 

6. Guest, Gift, and Ghost Authorship

The journal does not permit guest authorship, gift authorship, or ghost authorship.

  • Guest or gift authorship refers to listing an individual as an author despite their failure to meet the authorship criteria.

  • Ghost authorship refers to omitting an individual who has made a substantial qualifying contribution to the work.

All authorship decisions must be based on actual scholarly contributions rather than academic rank, position, institutional influence, or personal relationships.

 

7. Use of Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) tools cannot be listed as authors because they cannot assume responsibility for the accuracy, integrity, and originality of scholarly work.

Authors who use AI tools in preparing a manuscript must comply with the journal's AI-use policy and disclose such use where required. Human authors remain fully responsible for the content, verification of information, proper citation of sources, and originality of the submitted work. Routine spelling or grammar assistance may be treated differently in accordance with the journal's specific AI-use policy.

 

8. Ethical Compliance

The journal reserves the right to investigate suspected authorship violations. Where concerns arise, the editorial team may request clarification, supporting documentation, or institutional assistance, as appropriate.

Confirmed violations may result in rejection, suspension of editorial processing, correction of the published record, or other appropriate action in accordance with the journal's publication ethics policies.