The Emirates Scholar Center for Research & Studies (ESRC) values transparency and fairness in assigning authorship, ensuring that all contributors receive appropriate credit for their work.

1. Criteria for Authorship

To be listed as an author, an individual must have made a substantial intellectual contribution to the study, including one or more of the following:

• Conception or design of the work
• Data collection, analysis, or interpretation
• Drafting or critically revising the manuscript for important intellectual content
• Approval of the final version to be published

All authors must take responsibility for the integrity of the work, ensuring that questions regarding accuracy or ethics are appropriately addressed.

2. Author Order and Changes

The order of authorship should reflect the relative contribution of each author. Any changes to the author list or order after submission must be agreed upon by all authors and approved by the journal editor. Disputes that cannot be resolved internally may be referred to the authors’ affiliated institutions.

3. Corresponding Author Responsibilities

The corresponding author acts as the primary contact with the journal, handling all communications during submission, peer review, and post-publication. They ensure that all co-authors have reviewed and approved the final manuscript.

4. Authorship Declaration

All authors are required to complete an authorship declaration step during submission, confirming that they meet the journal’s authorship criteria. False or misleading declarations may lead to manuscript rejection, retraction, or other COPE-compliant measures.

5. Transparency and Accountability

ESRC maintains records of authorship declarations to ensure accountability and uphold ethical standards in scholarly publishing, consistent with COPE and Scopus expectations.