Authorship and Contributorship

Editorial Policies

Authorship and Contributorship

The Review of Studies on Criminology, Sociology, and Law (RSCSL) is committed to promoting transparency, accountability, fairness, and integrity in scholarly authorship. Authorship carries both credit and responsibility; therefore, only individuals who have made substantial intellectual contributions to a manuscript should be listed as authors. All authors share collective responsibility for the accuracy, integrity, and ethical conduct of the published work.

RSCSL adopts internationally recognized principles of responsible authorship and encourages authors to clearly describe their individual contributions using the Contributor Roles Taxonomy (CRediT). The journal does not permit honorary, guest, gift, ghost, or purchased authorship and expects all contributors to adhere to the highest standards of publication ethics.

Authorship Criteria

To qualify for authorship, each listed author must satisfy all of the following criteria:

 

1. Substantial Scholarly Contribution

§ 1

The author has made a significant intellectual contribution to one or more aspects of the work, including:

  • Conceptualization of the study;
  • Research design;
  • Acquisition, collection, or generation of data, legal materials, or documentary sources;
  • Development of theoretical, conceptual, legal, or methodological frameworks;
  • Statistical, qualitative, doctrinal, comparative, or interdisciplinary analysis;
  • Interpretation of research findings.
 

2. Manuscript Preparation

§ 2

The author has participated in:

  • Drafting the manuscript; or
  • Critically revising it for important intellectual content, legal accuracy, scientific rigor, or scholarly quality.
 

3. Final Approval

§ 3

The author has reviewed and approved the final version of the manuscript prior to submission and agrees to its publication if accepted.

 

4. Accountability

§ 4

The author accepts public responsibility for the integrity of the research and agrees to cooperate fully in resolving questions relating to:

  • Accuracy of data;
  • Research methodology;
  • Legal interpretation;
  • Ethical conduct;
  • Authorship;
  • Publication integrity.
Individuals who do not satisfy all of these criteria should not be listed as authors.
 

Contributorship

RSCSL recognizes that many individuals may contribute to a research project without meeting the criteria for authorship.

Contributors who do not qualify as authors should be appropriately acknowledged in the Acknowledgments section with their permission.

Examples include:

  • Technical assistance;
  • Administrative support;
  • Language editing;
  • Statistical consultation;
  • Legal research assistance;
  • Data collection support;
  • Laboratory or field assistance;
  • Institutional coordination;
  • Funding administration;
  • General supervision without substantial intellectual contribution.
Acknowledgment does not imply authorship.
 

Author Contributions Statement

RSCSL requires or strongly encourages authors to include an Author Contributions Statement using the CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy).

Contributor roles may include:

  • Conceptualization
  • Methodology
  • Software
  • Validation
  • Formal Analysis
  • Investigation
  • Resources
  • Data Curation
  • Writing – Original Draft
  • Writing – Review & Editing
  • Visualization
  • Supervision
  • Project Administration
  • Funding Acquisition
The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that the contribution statement accurately reflects each author's participation and has been approved by all co-authors.
 

Corresponding Author Responsibilities

The corresponding author serves as the primary representative of all authors throughout the editorial and publication process.

Responsibilities include:

  • Submitting the manuscript;
  • Managing communication with the Editorial Office;
  • Coordinating revisions;
  • Ensuring that all authors meet the journal's authorship criteria;
  • Confirming that every co-author has reviewed and approved the submitted manuscript;
  • Ensuring that all required ethical approvals, disclosures, and declarations have been completed;
  • Communicating editorial decisions to all co-authors;
  • Coordinating post-publication correspondence when necessary.
 

Order of Authorship

The order of authors should accurately reflect the relative scholarly contributions of each author.

Authors are encouraged to determine authorship order at the beginning of the research project and to review the order whenever contributions change during the course of the work.

The corresponding author must ensure that:

  • All authors agree on the order of authorship;
  • No qualified contributor has been omitted;
  • No individual has been included without consent;
  • The authorship order accurately reflects the contributions made.

The journal does not intervene in authorship order unless an ethical concern arises.

 

Changes to Authorship

Requests to add, remove, or rearrange authors after manuscript submission or acceptance will be considered only in exceptional circumstances.

Requests must include:

  • A written explanation for the proposed change;
  • Written agreement from all listed authors;
  • Written consent from any author being added or removed;
  • Additional documentation requested by the Editorial Office, where appropriate.

The Editor-in-Chief reserves the right to approve or deny authorship changes following an evaluation of the submitted evidence.

No authorship changes will ordinarily be permitted after publication except through formal editorial procedures.

 

Authorship Disputes

Authors are expected to resolve authorship disagreements before manuscript submission.

When disputes arise after submission, the Editorial Office may:

  • Request written explanations from all parties;
  • Suspend editorial processing until the dispute is resolved;
  • Request documentation describing each contributor's role;
  • Refer the matter to the authors' affiliated institutions when appropriate.

The journal does not serve as an adjudicating body for institutional authorship disputes but will cooperate with institutional investigations where necessary.

Unacceptable Authorship Practices

RSCSL strictly prohibits unethical authorship practices, including but not limited to:

 
Honorary or Gift Authorship

Listing individuals who did not make substantial scholarly contributions.

 
Ghost Authorship

Failure to acknowledge individuals who made substantial intellectual contributions to the work.

 
Purchased Authorship

Buying, selling, exchanging, or otherwise trading authorship positions.

 
Misrepresented Authorship

Knowingly providing false information regarding an individual's contribution to the research.

 
Unauthorized Authorship

Including an individual's name without their knowledge or consent.

Such practices constitute publication misconduct and may result in editorial action.
 

Artificial Intelligence and Authorship

Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools, including large language models, cannot be listed as authors because they cannot:

  • Accept responsibility for the published work;
  • Approve the final manuscript;
  • Disclose conflicts of interest;
  • Meet internationally recognized authorship criteria.
Authors who use AI-assisted technologies during manuscript preparation must disclose such use in accordance with the journal's Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy and remain fully responsible for all content submitted to the journal.
 

Editorial Actions for Authorship Misconduct

Where concerns regarding authorship arise, RSCSL may:

  • Request clarification or additional documentation;
  • Suspend editorial processing during investigation;
  • Reject the manuscript;
  • Publish corrections where appropriate;
  • Retract published articles in cases of confirmed authorship misconduct;
  • Notify affiliated institutions, funding agencies, or other appropriate bodies when serious ethical violations are confirmed.

Editorial actions will be guided by fairness, transparency, and internationally recognized publication ethics standards.

The Review of Studies on Criminology, Sociology, and Law (RSCSL) is committed to promoting responsible authorship, transparent attribution of scholarly contributions, and accountability throughout the publication process. By ensuring that authorship accurately reflects genuine intellectual contributions and by recognizing contributorship transparently, the journal strengthens research integrity, protects the scholarly record, and fosters trust within the international academic community.

 

Alignment with International Standards

This Authorship and Contributorship Policy is based on internationally recognized principles of responsible authorship and ethical scholarly publishing and is aligned with:

  • Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) – Guidance on authorship, contributorship, authorship disputes, and publication ethics:
    https://publicationethics.org/
  • International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) – Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work, particularly the recommendations on defining the role of authors and contributors:
    https://www.icmje.org/recommendations/
  • Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) – Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing, including requirements for transparent authorship policies and ethical editorial governance:
    https://doaj.org/apply/guide/

RSCSL periodically reviews this policy to ensure continued alignment with evolving international standards for responsible authorship, contributorship, publication ethics, and research integrity.