Qanun Medika – Medical Journal Faculty of Medicine Muhammadiyah Surabaya is committed to ensuring that authorship accurately reflects the scholarly contributions and responsibilities of individuals involved in the preparation of a manuscript. The journal adopts transparent authorship and contributorship policies in accordance with the principles outlined in the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) Core Practices, particularly Authorship and Contributorship.

COPE emphasizes that journals should establish clear policies defining authorship and contributorship requirements, ensuring transparency about who contributed to the work and in what capacity, and providing procedures for managing potential authorship disputes. Further information is available in the official COPE Authorship and Contributorship resources and the COPE Discussion Document: Authorship.

Authorship in Qanun Medika is reserved for individuals who have made substantial intellectual or scholarly contributions to the research and manuscript. Eligible contributions may include the conception or design of the study; the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of research data; the development of the research methodology; and the critical preparation or revision of the manuscript for important intellectual content.

All listed authors must participate meaningfully in the scholarly work, approve the final version of the manuscript before submission or publication, and accept accountability for their contributions and for helping address questions concerning the accuracy or integrity of the work. The journal requires authorship declarations to reflect actual contributions rather than professional status, seniority, funding provision, or institutional position alone. These requirements implement the journal's transparent authorship policy in line with the COPE guidance on authorship and contributorship.

Every author is responsible for ensuring that the manuscript presents the research accurately, acknowledges relevant sources, and complies with applicable research and publication ethics requirements. Authors must cooperate in resolving editorial queries and concerns about their contributions, research data, methodology, or the integrity of the published work.

All authors must agree to the submitted manuscript and its authorship list, including the order of authors, before submission. They must also disclose relevant competing interests, funding sources, and other information required by the journal. Authorship must not be granted solely as a reward, courtesy, or consequence of an individual's position within an institution or research team.

These requirements are consistent with the transparency and accountability principles discussed in the COPE Discussion Document: Authorship, which addresses authorship responsibilities, contribution transparency, and challenges that may arise when assigning authorship.

The corresponding author serves as the principal contact between the authors and the editorial office throughout submission, peer review, revision, and publication. The corresponding author is responsible for providing accurate submission information, confirming that all listed authors have approved the manuscript and authorship order, communicating editorial decisions and requests to co-authors, and coordinating responses to editorial queries.

The corresponding author must ensure that all required authorship, contributorship, funding, competing-interest, and ethical declarations are complete and accurate. Following publication, the corresponding author should facilitate communication among the authors and the journal when questions arise concerning the published work. These responsibilities reflect the importance of transparent authorship arrangements and accountable communication described in the COPE Discussion Document: Authorship.

Qanun Medika requires authors to provide an accurate description of their individual contributions to the submitted manuscript when requested by the journal. Contribution statements should distinguish the roles of individual authors in the research process, manuscript preparation, data analysis, interpretation, and other relevant scholarly activities.

Authors must ensure that the contribution statement is truthful, complete, and consistent with the actual work performed. The journal may request clarification or additional documentation if the declared contributions are unclear, inconsistent, or disputed. This policy follows the transparency principles established in the COPE Core Practices on Authorship and Contributorship.

Individuals who have contributed to the research but do not meet the journal's authorship criteria should be acknowledged appropriately rather than listed as authors. Such contributions may include administrative assistance, routine technical support, language editing, general supervision, or funding acquisition without substantial intellectual involvement in the work.

Acknowledgment of a contributor must be accurate and must not misrepresent the individual's role in the research. Where appropriate, the authors should obtain permission from individuals named in the acknowledgment. The journal does not permit guest, gift, or honorary authorship, nor does it permit the omission of individuals who legitimately qualify for authorship. These concerns are addressed in COPE's resources on authorship and contributorship, including its guidance on recognizing potential authorship problems.

Any request to add, remove, or reorder authors after manuscript submission must be submitted in writing to the editorial office, accompanied by a clear explanation of the reasons for the proposed change. The request must include confirmation that all affected authors agree to the change and that the revised authorship accurately reflects their contributions.

The journal will not implement changes to authorship solely on the request of the corresponding author without appropriate justification and the agreement of the affected authors. If a disagreement arises, the journal may suspend the requested change and seek clarification or refer the matter to the relevant institution when necessary.

For articles that have already been published, changes to the author list must be supported by appropriate documentation and assessed by the editor. Where a change is justified, a formal correction may be issued to maintain the accuracy of the scholarly record. These procedures are informed by the official COPE Flowchart: Addition of an Author After Publication and COPE's broader authorship and contributorship guidance.

Authorship disputes may involve disagreements about eligibility, author order, omitted contributors, inappropriate inclusion of authors, or changes to the author list. The journal will assess such concerns impartially and request relevant explanations or documentation from the parties involved.

The editorial team will not make unsupported determinations about disputed contributions. Where the parties cannot reach an agreement, the journal may refer the matter to the relevant institution or research organization for investigation or adjudication. Editorial action will be based on the available evidence and the outcome of the appropriate process.

This procedure follows COPE's recommendation that journals establish transparent processes for managing authorship disputes while recognizing the limits of an editor's role in determining the facts of a dispute. Further guidance is available in the COPE Discussion Document: Authorship and the COPE authorship change flowchart.

Ghost authorship occurs when an individual who has made a qualifying contribution is omitted from the author list without appropriate justification. Guest or gift authorship occurs when an individual is included as an author despite not meeting the journal's authorship criteria. Qanun Medika considers these practices inconsistent with transparent and responsible authorship.

All authors must ensure that the author list reflects genuine scholarly contributions. The journal may request clarification, contribution statements, or other relevant documentation when inappropriate authorship practices are suspected. Confirmed cases may result in corrective action, rejection, or further investigation, depending on the circumstances.

The journal's approach is informed by the COPE Authorship and Contributorship resources, which address potential authorship problems and the importance of transparent attribution of scholarly contributions.

Artificial intelligence tools and other automated systems cannot be listed as authors because they cannot assume the responsibilities, provide the approvals, or accept the accountability required of human authors. Authors remain responsible for the accuracy, originality, integrity, and ethical acceptability of all content submitted to the journal, including content generated or assisted by artificial intelligence tools.

Where required by the journal's applicable policy, authors must disclose the use of artificial intelligence tools in manuscript preparation or research activities, specifying the tool and its role. The use of such tools must not replace appropriate human verification, conceal sources, fabricate evidence, or compromise confidential information. The human authors remain accountable for the submitted work.

The editorial team may examine authorship declarations, contribution statements, acknowledgments, and requests for changes to determine whether they are complete and consistent with the journal's policy. Where concerns arise, the editor may request clarification from the corresponding author and other relevant authors before making a decision.

If suspected authorship misconduct cannot be resolved through clarification, the journal may refer the matter to the relevant institution or research organization. Depending on the findings and the stage of publication, appropriate actions may include rejection, correction of the author list, or other measures necessary to protect the integrity of the scholarly record.

These procedures are based on the COPE Core Practices and the official COPE resources on authorship and contributorship, which emphasize clear policies and appropriate procedures for handling potential authorship disputes.

By submitting a manuscript to Qanun Medika – Medical Journal Faculty of Medicine Muhammadiyah Surabaya, the authors confirm that the authorship list accurately reflects the contributions made to the work, that all listed authors have approved the submitted version, and that no eligible contributor has been improperly excluded. The authors also confirm that any requested changes to authorship will be communicated to the editorial office and handled in accordance with this policy.

All authors are expected to cooperate with the journal in resolving questions about authorship, contributorship, and research integrity. This policy is intended to promote responsible attribution, accountability, and transparency in scholarly publishing, consistent with the COPE Core Practices on Authorship and Contributorship.