Authorship and Contributions

Research Journal Al-Qamar is committed to maintaining the highest standards of publication ethics, academic transparency, and scholarly accountability. Authorship is not merely a matter of academic credit; it also carries responsibility for the originality, accuracy, integrity, and ethical validity of the submitted work.

The journal follows internationally recognized principles of responsible authorship, including the core standards recommended by ICMJE and publication ethics guidance by COPE. ICMJE recommends that authorship should be based on substantial contribution, drafting or critical revision, final approval, and accountability for the integrity of the work. COPE also emphasizes clear authorship policies and proper handling of authorship disputes.

Criteria for Authorship

A person should be listed as an author only if he or she has made a substantial scholarly contribution to the manuscript. All listed authors must normally fulfill the following conditions:

Made a significant contribution to the conception, design, planning, research, methodology, data collection, analysis, interpretation, or scholarly argument of the manuscript.
Participated in drafting the manuscript or revising it critically for important intellectual content.
Reviewed and approved the final version of the manuscript before submission and publication.
Accepted responsibility for the accuracy, originality, ethical compliance, and academic integrity of the work.
Agreed to be accountable for his or her own contribution and to cooperate in resolving any questions related to the manuscript.

Authorship must be based on genuine intellectual contribution. The inclusion of any person as an author without a real scholarly role is considered unethical.

Author Contribution Statement

All manuscripts submitted to Research Journal Al-Qamar must include a clear Author Contribution Statement. This statement should explain the specific role of each author in the preparation of the manuscript.

The contribution statement may include, but is not limited to, the following roles:

Conceptualization
Research design
Methodology
Literature review
Data collection
Data analysis and interpretation
Draft writing
Critical revision
Translation or textual analysis
Editing and proofreading
Supervision
Project administration
Funding acquisition
Final approval

The journal may also use internationally recognized contributor-role categories, such as the CRediT taxonomy, which identifies 14 standard contribution roles including conceptualization, methodology, investigation, supervision, project administration, writing of the original draft, and review and editing.

Sample Author Contribution Statement

Author Contributions:
Author 1 contributed to the conceptualization, research design, literature review, and original draft writing. Author 2 contributed to methodology, analysis, interpretation, critical revision, and final approval of the manuscript. Author 3 contributed to supervision, editing, and project administration. All authors reviewed and approved the final version of the manuscript and agreed to be accountable for the integrity of the work.

Order of Authors

The order of authors must be decided and agreed upon by all authors before submission. The first author should normally be the person who made the most substantial contribution to the research and writing of the manuscript. The corresponding author is responsible for confirming that all authors have approved the order of authorship.

Research Journal Al-Qamar does not accept responsibility for internal disputes among authors regarding authorship order. Any change in the author sequence after submission must be supported by a written request and approval from all listed authors.

Corresponding Author

The corresponding author acts as the main point of contact between the journal and the authors. The corresponding author is responsible for:

Submitting the manuscript through the journal system.
Ensuring that all authors have approved the submission.
Confirming that the manuscript is original and not under review elsewhere.
Communicating with the editorial office during peer review, revision, and publication.
Providing ethical approval, permissions, declarations, and supporting documents where required.
Ensuring that all authors approve the final revised version before publication.
Responding to post-publication queries, corrections, or ethical concerns.

The corresponding author must not submit a manuscript without the knowledge and consent of all co-authors.

Non-Author Contributions and Acknowledgment

Individuals who contributed to the work but do not meet the criteria for authorship should not be listed as authors. Their contribution may be mentioned in the Acknowledgment section with their permission.

Such contributions may include:

General academic guidance
Technical assistance
Language editing
Proofreading
Formatting
Administrative support
Institutional support
Financial support
Library or archival assistance
Data entry assistance
General supervision without direct intellectual contribution

Acknowledgment does not imply authorship. Only those who make a substantial intellectual contribution should be listed as authors.

Unacceptable Authorship Practices

The journal considers the following practices unethical:

Gift authorship: Including a person as an author because of status, seniority, friendship, or institutional position without genuine contribution.
Guest authorship: Adding a well-known scholar or senior person to increase the perceived value of the article without real contribution.
Ghost authorship: Excluding a person who made a substantial contribution to the research or writing.
Honorary authorship: Listing a supervisor, head of department, editor, or institutional authority without meaningful scholarly input.
Forced authorship: Adding a person due to pressure, influence, or institutional hierarchy.
False contribution claims: Misrepresenting the actual role of any author.
Unauthorized submission: Submitting a manuscript without the knowledge or consent of all authors.

Any form of authorship manipulation may lead to rejection, correction, withdrawal, or further ethical action.

Changes in Authorship

Requests for addition, removal, or rearrangement of authors after submission must be made before final acceptance. Such requests must include:

A clear reason for the requested change.
Written consent from all existing authors.
Written consent from the author being added or removed.
A revised Author Contribution Statement.
Approval by the editorial office.

After publication, authorship changes will only be considered in exceptional cases and may require formal correction or editorial notice.

Authorship Disputes

In case of an authorship dispute, the journal may request written clarification from all involved parties. The editorial office may ask for evidence of contribution, institutional confirmation, correspondence among authors, or other relevant documentation.

The journal will not resolve personal or institutional conflicts between authors. If the dispute cannot be resolved through documentation, the matter may be referred to the authors’ institution, research supervisor, ethics committee, or relevant academic authority.

During an unresolved authorship dispute, the journal may suspend the review or publication process until the matter is settled.

Responsibility for Research Integrity

All authors share responsibility for the integrity of the manuscript. Each author should be able to identify his or her own contribution and should have confidence in the contribution of co-authors. Authors must ensure that:

The manuscript is original.
The work is not plagiarized.
Sources are properly cited.
Data, quotations, translations, and references are accurate.
Ethical approval has been obtained where necessary.
Permissions have been secured for copyrighted material.
Conflicts of interest and funding sources are disclosed.
The manuscript is not submitted to more than one journal at the same time.

Use of AI Tools

AI tools may be used only for limited assistance such as grammar correction, language improvement, formatting, or technical refinement. AI tools cannot be listed as authors because they cannot take responsibility for research integrity, originality, ethical approval, or scholarly accountability.

Authors must disclose the use of AI tools where such use has significantly assisted in preparing the manuscript. The authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, authenticity, originality, and ethical compliance of the submitted work.

Final Declaration

By submitting a manuscript to Research Journal Al-Qamar, all authors confirm that they have made a genuine scholarly contribution, approved the final version, agreed to the order of authorship, disclosed all relevant information, and accepted responsibility for the integrity of the work.