Authorship and Contributorship Policy

BEMO | EDITORIAL POLICIES

Authorship and Contributorship Policy

Transparent attribution, scholarly responsibility, and research integrity.

Bioenvironmental Modelling and Optimization (BEMO) recognizes authorship as both academic credit and responsibility. All contributors must be appropriately acknowledged, and authorship decisions must reflect genuine intellectual contributions.

1. Authorship Criteria

To qualify as an author, an individual must meet all the following criteria:

  1. Make a substantial contribution to research conception, design, mathematical modelling, methodology, data collection, analysis, or interpretation.
  2. Draft the manuscript or critically revise it for important intellectual content.
  3. Approve the final version for publication.
  4. Accept accountability for their contribution and cooperate in resolving questions concerning the accuracy or integrity of the work.

All individuals meeting these criteria should be included as authors. Contributors who do not meet the criteria should be acknowledged, with their permission.

2. Contribution Statements

BEMO encourages transparent author contribution statements using the CRediT taxonomy, including conceptualization, methodology, software, validation, formal analysis, investigation, data curation, writing, visualization, supervision, and funding acquisition.

Funding acquisition, routine administrative support, general supervision, or language editing alone does not automatically justify authorship.

3. Corresponding Author Responsibilities

  • Obtain approval from all authors before submission.
  • Ensure accurate names, affiliations, and contribution statements.
  • Coordinate communication with the editorial office.
  • Disclose funding sources, competing interests, and applicable ethical approvals.
  • Coordinate responses to peer review and post-publication inquiries.

4. Authorship Changes and Disputes

Requests to add, remove, or reorder authors must include a written explanation and agreement from all affected authors. When agreement cannot be established, the journal may suspend editorial processing and refer the dispute to the relevant institution.

Editors are responsible for evaluating publication implications but are not expected to adjudicate complex disputes concerning individual intellectual contributions.

5. Unacceptable Authorship Practices

Gift, guest, ghost, purchased, or otherwise misleading authorship is prohibited. The unauthorized inclusion or exclusion of qualifying authors is also unacceptable.

6. AI-Assisted Contributions

Generative artificial intelligence tools must not be listed as authors because they cannot assume responsibility for published work. Authors remain accountable for the accuracy, originality, citations, and integrity of AI-assisted content. Material use of such tools in preparing the manuscript or conducting research should be disclosed appropriately.

Editorial Principle: Authorship must reflect meaningful intellectual contribution and accountability, not institutional position, seniority, or financial support.