Authorship Criteria Policy

LEGAL BRIEF is committed to ensuring that authorship accurately reflects the contributions of individuals to scholarly work. Authorship must be based on substantial intellectual contributions, accountability, and transparency throughout the research and publication process.

All authors submitting manuscripts to LEGAL BRIEF must comply with this policy and applicable publication ethics principles, including relevant guidance from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

1. Criteria for Authorship

An individual may be listed as an author only when they have made a substantial scholarly contribution to the work and accept responsibility for their contribution.

Authorship contributions may include:

Developing the research conception, design, theoretical framework, or legal argument.
Conducting substantial research, including legal analysis, doctrinal examination, empirical investigation, or interpretation of relevant evidence.
Collecting, analyzing, or interpreting research data, legal materials, legislation, court decisions, or other relevant sources.
Drafting the manuscript or critically revising it for significant intellectual content.
Approving the final version of the manuscript before submission or publication.
Agreeing to be accountable for their own contributions and cooperating in addressing questions concerning the accuracy or integrity of the work.

Each author must satisfy the applicable authorship requirements and must be able to identify their specific contribution to the manuscript.

Routine administrative assistance, funding acquisition alone, general supervision, language editing, proofreading, or technical support alone does not automatically qualify an individual for authorship. Such contributions should be acknowledged appropriately where relevant.

2. Corresponding Author Responsibilities

The corresponding author is responsible for coordinating communication between the authors and the editorial office throughout submission, peer review, revision, and publication.

The corresponding author must:

Ensure that all listed authors meet the journal's authorship criteria.
Obtain the agreement of all authors to submit the manuscript to LEGAL BRIEF.
Confirm that all authors have reviewed and approved the submitted version and any subsequent revised version requiring author approval.
Provide accurate author names, affiliations, email addresses, and contribution statements.
Disclose relevant conflicts of interest, funding sources, and other required declarations.
Ensure that all authors are informed of significant editorial decisions and communications.
Coordinate responses to editorial queries and requests for clarification concerning authorship or research integrity.

The corresponding author must not submit a manuscript on behalf of other authors without their knowledge and required approval.

3. Author Contributions

LEGAL BRIEF encourages transparent reporting of individual author contributions.

Where applicable, authors should provide a contribution statement describing each author's role in the preparation of the manuscript. Contributions may include conceptualization, methodology, investigation, data collection, formal analysis, legal research, drafting, critical revision, supervision, and project administration.

For multi-author manuscripts, the contribution statement must accurately reflect the work performed by each author. All authors share responsibility for the integrity of the publication, while each author remains accountable for their own contributions and should be able to identify the contributions of their co-authors.

4. Changes in Authorship

Any proposed addition, removal, or rearrangement of authors after initial submission must be explained in writing to the editorial office.

The request must include:

A clear explanation of the reason for the proposed change.
Confirmation that all existing authors agree to the change.
Written consent from any individual being added or removed, where applicable.
An updated author contribution statement, if necessary.

The Editor-in-Chief will assess the request and may seek additional clarification or supporting documentation before making a decision.

Changes to authorship after publication will be considered only when justified by appropriate evidence and agreement among the relevant parties. If the authors cannot resolve an authorship dispute, the journal may refer the matter to the relevant institutions or other appropriate authorities.

The journal reserves the right to suspend editorial processing while a substantial authorship dispute is being assessed.

5. Unethical Authorship Practices

LEGAL BRIEF does not permit unethical authorship practices, including but not limited to:

Gift or honorary authorship: Listing an individual who has not made a qualifying scholarly contribution.
Ghost authorship: Excluding an individual who has made a substantial contribution that warrants authorship, or concealing a material writing contribution where disclosure is required.
Guest authorship: Adding a person's name to increase the perceived credibility or likelihood of acceptance of a manuscript without a qualifying contribution.
Unauthorized authorship changes: Adding, removing, or changing the order of authors without the required agreement.
False contribution statements: Misrepresenting the nature or extent of an individual's contribution.
Unapproved submission: Submitting a manuscript without obtaining the required approval from all listed authors.

Suspected authorship misconduct will be assessed in accordance with the journal's Allegations of Research Misconduct Policy and other applicable publication ethics procedures.

6. Authorship Disputes

LEGAL BRIEF expects authors to resolve authorship disagreements through appropriate communication and institutional procedures whenever possible.

If a dispute arises during submission or peer review, the editorial office may request written explanations and supporting documentation from the individuals involved. The journal may suspend processing until the dispute is resolved sufficiently to establish a reliable authorship record.

The journal does not ordinarily determine employment, contractual, or institutional disputes beyond its editorial responsibilities. Where necessary, the matter may be referred to the relevant institution or an appropriate independent authority.

If an authorship dispute arises after publication, the journal will assess the available evidence and may publish a correction or other appropriate notice when warranted.

7. Acknowledgment of Non-Author Contributions

Individuals who contribute to a manuscript but do not meet the authorship criteria may be acknowledged in an appropriate section of the article.

Acknowledgments may include contributions involving language editing, proofreading, technical assistance, administrative support, or other non-author scholarly assistance.

Authors must obtain permission from individuals before naming them in the acknowledgment section. Funding sources and other forms of material support must be disclosed separately where required by the journal.

8. Artificial Intelligence and Authorship

Artificial intelligence tools, including generative AI systems, cannot be listed as authors or co-authors because they cannot assume responsibility for the accuracy, originality, integrity, and ethical compliance of scholarly work.

Authors who use AI tools in preparing a manuscript must remain fully responsible for its content, including the accuracy of citations, legal authorities, factual statements, analysis, and conclusions.

Any use of AI tools must be disclosed in accordance with the journal's applicable AI-use and publication ethics policies. AI-assisted writing or analysis must not be used to fabricate references, misrepresent sources, conceal plagiarism, or generate unsupported legal claims.

Human authors remain accountable for all material submitted for publication.

9. Editorial Responsibility

The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for overseeing the implementation of this policy and ensuring that authorship issues are handled fairly, consistently, and transparently.

LEGAL BRIEF may request additional documentation to verify authorship, contributions, approvals, or the legitimacy of proposed authorship changes.

Failure to comply with this policy may result in requests for clarification, suspension of editorial processing, manuscript rejection, publication of a correction, or other appropriate action in accordance with the journal's publication ethics policies.

Policy responsibility: Editor-in-Chief, LEGAL BRIEF
Publisher: Ihsa Institute