Authorship and Contributorship Policy

This Authorship and Contributorship Policy is developed in accordance with the recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the Higher Education Commission (HEC), Pakistan, and internationally recognized best practices for ethical scholarly publishing.

Criteria for Authorship

NIJBM recognizes an individual as an author only if he or she has made substantial intellectual contributions to the research. Each author should:

  • Make significant contributions to the conception or design of the study, or to the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data.
  • Participate in drafting the manuscript or critically revising it for important intellectual content.
  • Approve the final version of the manuscript before submission and publication.
  • Agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

Contributorship

NIJBM recognizes contributions that do not qualify for authorship. Individuals providing technical assistance, language editing, data collection, administrative support, funding acquisition, or general supervision should be acknowledged in the Acknowledgements section with their permission.

Corresponding Author Responsibilities

The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that all eligible contributors are included as authors, obtaining consent from all co-authors, securing approval of the final manuscript, communicating with the editorial office, coordinating responses to reviewers, and ensuring compliance with the journal’s ethical and publication policies.

Number and Order of Authors

In accordance with the current NIJBM Author Guidelines, the journal generally accepts manuscripts with up to four authors. Manuscripts exceeding this number may be considered only with appropriate justification and approval by the Editor-in-Chief. The order of authors should be mutually agreed upon before submission.

Changes in Authorship

Requests to add, remove, or rearrange authors after submission will only be considered in exceptional circumstances. Such requests must include a written explanation, signed consent from all existing and proposed authors, and approval by the Editor-in-Chief.

Authorship Misconduct

NIJBM prohibits gifts, honorary, guest, ghost, and purchased authorship. Suspected misconduct will be investigated in accordance with COPE guidance and may result in rejection, retraction, institutional notification, or other appropriate action.

Acknowledgements

Individuals who do not meet the criteria for authorship but have contributed to the work should be acknowledged appropriately after obtaining their permission.

Author Responsibility and Accountability

All authors are collectively responsible for the originality, accuracy, integrity, and ethical conduct of the research. Authors must ensure originality, proper citation, disclosure of conflicts of interest and funding, and promptly report any errors identified after publication.

Editorial Responsibility

The editorial team handles authorship issues independently of editorial decisions and resolves disputes confidentially and fairly in accordance with COPE guidance and NIJBM policies.