Author Credit Policy

The Journal of Contemporary Social Issues (JCSI) is committed to ensuring that all contributors to a scholarly work receive appropriate recognition for their efforts. This policy provides clear guidelines on authorship, contribution disclosure, and responsibilities to uphold transparency, accountability, and ethical standards in publishing.

Authorship Criteria

An individual qualifies as an author only if they have made a substantial intellectual contribution to the work. This includes involvement in one or more of the following: conception or design of the study, data collection or analysis, interpretation of results, or drafting and critically revising the manuscript. All authors must approve the final version of the manuscript and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work, ensuring its accuracy and integrity.

Contributor Roles and Transparency

JCSI encourages authors to clearly describe their specific contributions using standard terminology, such as the CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy). Examples of recognized roles include conceptualization, methodology, data curation, formal analysis, writing, visualization, supervision, project administration, and funding acquisition. A detailed contribution statement is published with the article to ensure transparency and proper recognition of each author’s work.

Corresponding Author Responsibilities

The corresponding author serves as the primary contact for all communication with the journal and ensures that all authors meet the criteria for authorship. They are responsible for confirming that all co-authors approve the manuscript, verifying the accuracy of affiliations, and facilitating communication during peer review and publication.

Acknowledgment of Non-Author Contributors

Individuals who contributed to the research but do not meet the criteria for authorship, such as technical support, administrative assistance, or funding provision, should be acknowledged separately. All acknowledgments must be approved by the individuals being recognized.

Changes in Authorship

Requests to add, remove, or rearrange authors after submission must include a written explanation and signed consent from all authors, including those being added or removed. Authorship changes after acceptance are permitted only under exceptional circumstances with full justification.

Prohibited Practices

JCSI prohibits ghost authorship (uncredited contributors), gift authorship (authors listed without contribution), and guest authorship (adding influential individuals who did not contribute). The journal reserves the right to request documentation or verification of author contributions when necessary.

Author Rights

All authors retain copyright of their work and are encouraged to disseminate and reuse their research responsibly. Authors must ensure that the work submitted is original, not under consideration elsewhere, and appropriately cites all sources.