Authorship and Contributorship Criteria

Religious · Editorial Policies

Authorship and Contributorship Criteria

Religious: Jurnal Studi Agama-Agama dan Lintas Budaya recognises authorship as both scholarly credit and responsibility for published work. The journal uses the Contributor Role Taxonomy (CRediT) to describe contributions transparently and consistently.

CRediT comprises 14 contributor roles and was approved as an ANSI/NISO standard in 2022. It complements the traditional author list by identifying the activities undertaken by individual contributors.

CRediT roles describe contributions; they do not determine authorship eligibility. All named authors must satisfy the journal’s minimum authorship criteria below. Contributions by individuals who do not meet those criteria should be recognised separately.

On this page

1. Minimum Criteria for Authorship
2. The 14 CRediT Contributor Roles
3. Assigning and Confirming Roles
4. CRediT Author Statement
5. Author Responsibilities
6. Non-Author Contributions
7. Author Order and Authorship Changes
8. Authorship Integrity and AI
9. Authorship Disputes

1. Minimum Criteria for Authorship

Each person listed as an author must meet all four of the following requirements:

1. Substantial scholarly contribution: contribute substantially to the conception or design of the study, or to the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of its data, sources, or evidence. For theoretical or interpretive research, this may include developing the central argument or analytical framework.
2. Intellectual contribution to the manuscript: draft the article or critically revise it for important intellectual content.
3. Final approval: approve the manuscript for submission and the final version to be published.
4. Accountability: agree to take responsibility for the work and cooperate in investigating and resolving questions concerning its accuracy or integrity.

All individuals who meet these requirements must be included as authors. Individuals who have made substantial research contributions should be given a reasonable opportunity to participate in drafting or critical revision and final approval.

2. The 14 CRediT Contributor Roles

Authors should use the following role names when reporting contributions. The descriptions below are concise adaptations for this journal; the official CRediT descriptors provide the authoritative definitions.

Role names and adapted descriptions are attributed to CRediT / NISO. CRediT materials are available under CC BY 4.0. Descriptions have been shortened for this policy.

3. Assigning and Confirming Roles

• Assign only roles that accurately describe work actually performed.
• One contributor may hold several roles, and several contributors may share the same role.
• Not every role applies to every study; unused roles should be omitted.
• The corresponding author coordinates role assignment, but each contributor must have an opportunity to review and confirm their assigned roles.
• Where useful, shared roles may be qualified as lead, equal, or supporting contributions. These qualifiers do not determine authorship eligibility or author order.
• Review contribution statements after substantial revisions to ensure that they remain accurate.

Contributions should be interpreted in relation to the actual research design. For example, conducting interviews or gathering archival evidence may constitute Investigation, while managing a documented collection of research materials may constitute Data curation.

Using an existing word processor, reference manager, or analysis application does not by itself constitute Software. Routine proofreading should not be presented as substantive intellectual revision.

The Writing – review & editing role describes contributions within the author or research team. It does not make journal peer reviewers or handling editors authors of the manuscript.

4. CRediT Author Statement

Every manuscript must include a section entitled “Author Contributions (CRediT)”. List each author’s full name followed by the applicable CRediT roles. The statement must be agreed by all authors.

During double-blind review, provide the identifying statement in a separate title-page file or other non-review submission material. It must be incorporated into the final manuscript before the References.

Example: multi-author article

Example: single-author article

These examples are illustrative. Authors must replace the sample names and select roles that reflect their actual contributions rather than reproduce the examples unchanged.

5. Author Responsibilities

All authors must:

• Meet the minimum authorship criteria and consent to being named.
• Provide an accurate account of their contributions.
• Approve the submission, substantive revisions, and final version.
• Ensure appropriate attribution of sources and originality of their work.
• Know which co-authors are responsible for other contributions and have confidence in their integrity.
• Disclose relevant conflicts of interest, funding, and AI use.
• Protect confidential information and meet applicable research ethics requirements.
• Cooperate with editorial inquiries and report significant errors or integrity concerns promptly.

The corresponding author manages communication with the journal, confirms agreement on the author list and contribution statement, and ensures that editorial decisions and reviewer comments are shared with co-authors.

Corresponding authorship does not automatically indicate the largest contribution or transfer the responsibilities of other authors to one person.

6. Non-Author Contributions

Contributors who do not meet all authorship criteria should be recognised in the Acknowledgements, with their permission. Their contributions may be described using applicable CRediT roles or a clear narrative explanation.

Funding acquisition, resources, supervision, project administration, or technical assistance may be important contributions without independently qualifying a person for authorship.

Contributors must not be excluded from authorship merely because they are students, research assistants, community collaborators, or locally based researchers. Eligibility depends on their actual contributions and fulfilment of the authorship criteria.

Research participation alone does not establish authorship. Acknowledgements must respect consent, confidentiality, and any commitments to protect participants’ identities.

7. Author Order and Authorship Changes

Authors must agree collectively on the author order before submission, taking account of their contributions and disciplinary conventions. CRediT does not prescribe author order, and counting assigned roles is not a substitute for agreement on the significance of contributions.

Requests to add or remove authors, change their order, or change the corresponding author after submission must be submitted to the editorial office with:

• A reasoned explanation for the proposed change.
• An updated author list and CRediT statement.
• Written agreement from all affected authors, including anyone being added or removed.
• Confirmation that all listed authors meet the authorship criteria.

Changes require editorial approval and must not be introduced silently during revision or proof correction. The journal may pause processing while a request is assessed.

Post-publication changes require formal assessment and, where justified, a published correction. If agreement cannot be obtained, the matter is treated as a dispute.

8. Authorship Integrity and AI

The journal prohibits:

• Gift, guest, or honorary authorship: including individuals who do not meet the authorship criteria.
• Ghost authorship: omitting eligible authors or concealing substantive contributions that should be disclosed.
• Coercive authorship: requiring inclusion through authority or pressure without qualifying contributions.
• Purchased or traded authorship: buying, selling, offering, or exchanging positions on the author list.
• Unauthorised authorship: naming individuals without their knowledge and approval.
• False contribution statements: assigning CRediT roles for activities not performed.

For articles derived from theses or dissertations, supervisory status alone does not establish authorship. Students’ qualifying contributions must be recognised accurately.

9. Authorship Disputes

Authorship or contributorship concerns should be reported through the journal’s Contact page, identifying the manuscript or article and supplying relevant explanations and supporting evidence.

The editorial office may request contribution records, written agreements, or clarification from the parties. Review or publication may be paused while a dispute remains unresolved.

Editors do not adjudicate conflicting accounts of research contributions that require institutional investigation. Unresolved disputes may be referred to the relevant institutions or research integrity bodies.

Depending on the evidence, the journal may require amendments, reject a submission, or issue an appropriate post-publication notice. An authorship dispute alone does not automatically warrant retraction; action will reflect the findings and their implications for the published record.