Citedness in Scopus
Authorship and Contributorship Policy
Scholarly Contribution • Transparency • Accountability
Authorship and Contributorship Policy
Ilomata International Journal of Social Science requires authorship to accurately reflect substantial scholarly contributions to research in sociology, political science, public policy, governance, development studies, anthropology, social change, community studies, gender, migration, inequality, digital society, and related interdisciplinary social sciences.
SUBSTANTIAL CONTRIBUTION CRediT TAXONOMY FULL ACCOUNTABILITY
Authorship represents both academic credit and responsibility. A person should be listed as an author only when they have made a meaningful intellectual contribution to the research and accept responsibility for the integrity, accuracy, transparency, ethical conduct, participant protection, confidentiality, and scholarly quality of the published work.
1. Criteria for Authorship
All listed authors must demonstrate substantial scholarly involvement in the study. Authorship should normally include all of the following:
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Substantial Research Contribution Significant contribution to the social-science research problem, theoretical or conceptual framework, study design, community or participant recruitment, survey or interview design, policy analysis, social or institutional assessment, ethnographic fieldwork, archival inquiry, qualitative or quantitative data collection, methodology, statistical analysis, or interpretation of findings. |
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Intellectual Contribution to the Manuscript Active participation in drafting the manuscript or critically revising its social theory, policy argument, governance analysis, methodological rationale, social interpretation, community implications, discussion, or scholarly contribution. |
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Final Approval Review and approval of the final manuscript, including the accuracy of author names, affiliations, participant descriptions, social or policy data, quotations, analytical findings, declarations, ethical information, confidentiality protections, and references. |
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Accountability Agreement to take responsibility for the author's contribution and to cooperate in resolving questions concerning participant or community data, interviews, surveys, coding, policy or institutional analysis, quotations, informed consent, confidentiality, research ethics, research integrity, authorship, or other aspects of the published work. |
Activities That Do Not Alone Qualify for Authorship
The following activities, when performed alone, are generally insufficient to justify authorship:
| • Providing research funding only | • Providing access to communities, institutions, organizations, government offices, participants, archives, or social datasets only |
| • General academic, policy, organizational, or administrative supervision | • Holding a governmental, organizational, institutional, community, managerial, or professional position |
| • Routine survey distribution, interview scheduling, transcription, data entry, or clerical assistance | • Language editing, proofreading, translation, or formatting only |
| • Providing meeting facilities, database access, archives, recording equipment, or logistical support only | • General encouragement, networking, community referral, or mentorship without scholarly contribution |
Individuals providing these forms of assistance may be recognized in the Acknowledgments section, subject to their permission where appropriate.
2. Author Contribution Statement – CRediT
Every accepted manuscript must include an Author Contribution Statement. Authors are encouraged to use the CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) to identify each author's contribution transparently.
| Conceptualization Development of social-science research ideas, sociological questions, governance or public-policy issues, development problems, anthropological concepts, inequality questions, migration themes, or theoretical frameworks. |
Methodology Development or design of surveys, interviews, focus groups, ethnography, case studies, policy analysis, archival research, comparative research, qualitative, quantitative, or mixed-methods approaches. |
| Formal Analysis Statistical, thematic, content, discourse, policy, institutional, comparative, demographic, social-network, qualitative, or other social-science analytical work. |
Investigation Conducting interviews, focus groups, surveys, observations, ethnographic fieldwork, community studies, policy or institutional assessments, archival research, or empirical data collection. |
| Data Curation Collecting, transcribing, anonymizing, coding, cleaning, organizing, documenting, securely storing, or maintaining survey, interview, community, policy, demographic, archival, or social datasets. |
Software Statistical coding, qualitative-data management, social-network analysis, text analysis, demographic processing, digital-social-data analysis, database development, or analytical software where relevant. |
| Validation Verification of coding frameworks, interpretations, survey measures, social indicators, policy classifications, triangulation, statistical findings, source accuracy, or research outputs. |
Visualization Preparation of research tables, conceptual frameworks, social-network diagrams, policy models, timelines, demographic charts, thematic maps, or data visualizations. |
| Writing – Original Draft Preparation of the initial scholarly manuscript. |
Writing – Review & Editing Critical intellectual review and substantive manuscript revision. |
| Resources Provision of essential social datasets, policy documents, archives, survey instruments, community access, institutional records, research materials, or other resources combined with scholarly contribution. |
Supervision Intellectual oversight and scholarly guidance of the research process. |
| Project Administration Coordination and management of research activities. |
Funding Acquisition Acquisition of financial support for the research project. |
Note: Assignment of a CRediT role does not automatically qualify an individual for authorship. The individual must also satisfy the journal's authorship requirements and accept accountability.
3. Example of Author Contribution Statement
Example – Quantitative Social / Policy Research
Author Contributions: A.B.: Conceptualization, Methodology, Formal Analysis, Writing – Original Draft. C.D.: Investigation, Data Curation, Validation, Visualization. E.F.: Supervision, Writing – Review & Editing. All authors approved the final manuscript and agreed to be accountable for their contributions.
Example – Qualitative / Community / Anthropological Research
Author Contributions: A.B.: Conceptualization, Investigation, Methodology, Writing – Original Draft. C.D.: Investigation, Data Curation, Formal Analysis. E.F.: Validation, Supervision, Writing – Review & Editing. All authors reviewed and approved the final manuscript.
4. Author Order
Author order must be determined and agreed upon collectively by the author group before manuscript submission. The journal does not assign or determine author order.
The authorship list and order must be consistent across the submitted manuscript, OJS metadata, Author Contribution Statement, declarations, ethics or consent documentation where applicable, and final published article.
5. Corresponding Author
One author must be identified as the corresponding author and serve as the primary contact between the journal and all co-authors.
| ✓ Ensures all authors approve manuscript submission | ✓ Verifies author names, affiliations, email, and ORCID information |
| ✓ Coordinates responses to reviewers | ✓ Ensures all authors approve substantive revisions |
| ✓ Verifies funding, ethics approval, informed consent, confidentiality, and Conflict of Interest Statements where applicable | ✓ Coordinates Data Availability, qualitative-data, survey-data, archival, or supplementary-material statements where applicable |
| ✓ Coordinates final proof approval | ✓ Responds to post-publication methodological, ethical, or research-integrity inquiries when necessary |
6. Unacceptable Authorship Practices
| ✕ Guest / Honorary Authorship Adding senior academics, institutional leaders, government officials, organizational heads, community leaders, executives, or respected individuals who did not make sufficient scholarly contributions. |
✕ Ghost Authorship Excluding individuals who made substantial contributions to research design, fieldwork, interviewing, survey development, qualitative coding, policy analysis, statistical analysis, or manuscript preparation that qualify for authorship. |
| ✕ Gift / Reciprocal Authorship Exchanging or granting authorship without genuine scholarly contribution. |
✕ Purchased Authorship Buying, selling, or transferring authorship positions. |
| ✕ Coercive Authorship Requiring inclusion because of supervisory, governmental, institutional, organizational, community, managerial, or professional authority. |
✕ Unauthorized Authorship Listing a person without their knowledge and approval. |
7. Changes to Authorship
Addition, removal, or rearrangement of authors after submission must be exceptional and supported by a clear explanation and written consent from all affected authors.
| BEFORE ACCEPTANCE May be considered with full written agreement |
AFTER ACCEPTANCE Exceptional and subject to editorial approval |
AFTER PUBLICATION May require a formal Correction Notice |
8. Authorship Disputes
The Editorial Team may request explanations and documentation when an authorship dispute arises. However, the journal does not normally adjudicate disputes concerning who should or should not qualify as an author. Unresolved disputes may be referred to the authors' institution, research-integrity office, ethics committee, employer, or another appropriate authority. Editorial processing may be suspended until the dispute is resolved.
9. Artificial Intelligence and Authorship
Artificial intelligence tools, large language models, generative AI systems, and AI-based social-data or analytical platforms must not be listed as authors or co-authors. AI cannot accept accountability, approve a manuscript, provide informed consent, declare conflicts of interest, or take responsibility for research integrity. Relevant AI-assisted activities, including AI-supported writing, transcription, translation, coding assistance, text or discourse analysis, social-media analysis, demographic or survey-data processing, qualitative-data analysis, or analytical interpretation, must instead be disclosed according to the journal's Artificial Intelligence (AI) Usage Policy.
Authorship Checklist Before Submission
| ✓ Every listed author has made a genuine scholarly contribution | ✓ No eligible contributor has been omitted |
| ✓ Author order has been approved by all authors | ✓ All authors approved the submitted manuscript |
| ✓ Author Contribution Statement is complete | ✓ Corresponding author has been identified |
| ✓ OJS metadata matches the manuscript | ✓ Ethics approval, informed consent, participant confidentiality, quotations, community or institutional permissions, and data statements are accurate where applicable |
| ✓ AI-assisted activities have been disclosed where required | ✓ All authors accept responsibility for the published work |
Authorship Principle
In Ilomata International Journal of Social Science, authorship is based on substantive intellectual contribution and accountability. Academic, governmental, institutional, organizational, or community authority, access to participants, communities, archives, policy documents, institutions, social datasets, facilities, funding alone, routine transcription or data-collection assistance, supervisory status, or professional seniority does not by itself justify authorship.
