Who should be a co-author?

See ICB Guidelines on authorship

When is it (not) OK to add or remove a co-author from a manuscript?

Before manuscript submission

No concerns, as long as you follow the ICMJE authorship guidelines (link in resources below):The ICMJE recommends that authorship be based on the following 4 criteria:

• Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; AND

• Drafting the work or reviewing it critically for important intellectual content; AND

• Final approval of the version to be published; AND

• Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved. 

After initial submission

Raises serious concerns and may trigger an investigation into possible misconduct unless the cover letter explains the reason for the change and all authors of the initial and of the re-submitted manuscript provide written proof to the editor that they approve of this change. Acceptable reasons are for example a major revision that required substantive revisions, such as new experiments, new data, new analysis, and substantial rewriting required to address major concerns raised in previous rounds of peer reviews.

After publication

Raises serious concerns and will trigger a full investigation into possible misconduct.

Conflict of Interest statement

• Authors are required to declare potential conflicts of interest in a dedicated section of the manuscript

• See General Author Instructions on the publisher's website - scroll down to the section on Conflicts of Interest

Funding statement

• Authors are required to declare funding sources in a dedicated section of the manuscript

• See the General Author Instructions on the publisher's website - scroll down to the section on Funding

Integrity

More cases and FAQ on the page about Integrity