Defining authorship in your research paper
Co-authors, corresponding authors, and affiliations
Why does authorship matter?
Authorship gives credit and implies accountability for published work, so there are academic, social and financial implications.
It is very important to make sure people who have contributed to a paper, are given credit as authors. And also that people who are recognized as authors, understand their responsibility and accountability for what is being published.
There are a couple of types of authorship to be aware of.
Co-author
Any person who has made a significant contribution to a journal article. They also share responsibility and accountability for the results of the published research.Corresponding author
If more than one author writes an article, you’ll choose one person to be the corresponding author. This person will handle all correspondence about the article and sign the publishing agreement on behalf of all the authors. They are responsible for ensuring that all the authors’ contact details are correct, and agree on the order that their names will appear in the article. The authors also will need to make sure that affiliations are correct and are the same in both the manuscript and the submission system, as explained in more detail below. The corresponding author must also take responsibility for any applicable article publishing charges (APCs). Eligibility for waivers and open access agreements is determined by the affiliation of the corresponding author, which cannot be changed after submission.
Open access publishing
There is increasing pressure on researchers to show the societal impact of their research.
Open access can help your work reach new readers, beyond those with easy access to a research library.
How common is co-authorship and what are the challenges collaborating authors face? Our white paper Co-authorship in the Humanities and Social Sciences: A global view explores the experiences of 894 researchers from 62 countries.
If you are a named co-author, this means that you:
Made a significant contribution to the work reported. That could be in the conception, study design, execution, acquisition of data, analysis and interpretation, or in all these areas; AND
Have drafted or written, substantially revised or critically reviewed the article; AND
Have agreed on the journal to which the article will be submitted; AND
Reviewed and agreed on all versions of the article before submission, during revision, the final version accepted for publication, and any significant changes introduced at the proofing stage; AND
Agree to take responsibility and be accountable for the contents of the article. Share responsibility to resolve any questions raised about the accuracy or integrity of the published work.
Every submission to our medical and health science journals should comply with the International Committee on Medical Journal Ethics’ definition of authorship.
Please include any other form of specific personal contribution in the acknowledgments section of your paper.
Affiliations: get it right
Your affiliation in the manuscript and when entered into the submission system should be the institution where you conducted the research. You should also include details of any funding received from that institution.
If you have changed affiliation since completing the research, your new affiliation can be acknowledged in a note. We can’t normally make changes to affiliation after the journal accepts your article, and we are unable to change affiliation to achieve eligibility for an open access agreement.
Author contributions
Promoting transparency in author contributions makes sure that appropriate credit for specific aspects of published work can be clearly attributed to each author. To enable authors to state the individual contributions of each listed author on the article, many T&F journals have adopted Contributor Roles Taxonomy (CRediT), which allows individual contributions to be listed according to specific role types.
Changes to authorship
Authorship changes post-submission should only be made in exceptional circumstances, and any requests for authors to be removed or added must be in line with our authorship criteria.
If you need to make an authorship change, you will need to contact the Journal Editorial Office or Editorial team in the first instance. You will be asked to complete our Authorship Change request form; all authors (including those you are adding or removing) must sign this form. This will be reviewed by the Editor (and in some instances, the publisher).
Please note any authorship change is at the Editor’s discretion; they have the right to refuse any authorship change they do not believe conforms with our authorship policies.
Some T&F journals do not allow any authorship changes post-submission; where this is applicable, this will be clearly indicated on the journal homepage or on the ‘instructions for authors’ page.
If you wish to make a change to the corresponding author before the article is published (for example, if a co-author becomes the corresponding author), you will need to contact the Journal Editorial Office or the production editor. You will need to confirm to them that both authors have agreed the change. Note that it is not possible to change corresponding author to achieve eligibility for an APC waiver or open access agreement.
Requested changes to the co-authors or corresponding authors following publication of the article may be considered, in line with the authorship guidelines issued by COPE, the Committee on Publication Ethics. Please see our corrections policy for more details. Any requests for changes must be made by submitting the completed Authorship Change Request form.
Authorship Change Request form
Important: agree on your corresponding author and the order of co-authors, and check all affiliations and contact details before submitting.
Taylor & Francis Editorial Policies on Authorship
The following instructions (part of our Editorial Policies) apply to all Taylor & Francis Group journals.
AI-based tools and technologies for content generation
If you have used AI tools (e.g. large language models, generative AI, and chatbots) in your research or the writing of your article, please note the following authorship principles:
You must not list AI tools as a co-author of your article. This is because authorship requires taking accountability for content, consenting to publication via a publishing agreement, and giving contractual assurances about the integrity of the work. These are uniquely human responsibilities that cannot be undertaken by AI tools.
You must clearly acknowledge within your article use of Generative AI tools. Please add a statement in the Methods or Acknowledgments section which includes:
The full name of the tool used (with version number).
How it was used.
The reason for use.
When you submit your work to a Taylor & Francis journal you may be asked to confirm that you have disclosed within your manuscript any use of AI tools. This level of transparency makes sure that editors and reviewers are aware that AI tools have been used, so that they can assess whether they have been used appropriately and responsibly.
Please see the Taylor & Francis AI Policy for more details.
Translations:
Use of AI tools to assist translation of author’s own work is permitted.
Authors must retain the original and translated versions of the article, which must be shared with the Editor upon request. If the article was previously published in another language, the author must make sure they have the appropriate rights to republish in another language before using any translation tool.
A declaration from the author must be included within the submission stating:
Originality and accuracy of the translation has been confirmed by the authors, and state who from the author list takes responsibility for checking accuracy of the translation.
The name and version number of the AI tool used.
Confirmation the authors have checked terms of use for the specific AI tool used, and therefore confirm suitability for publication.
Confirmation the authors take full responsibility for the integrity of the whole content, including accuracy of references.
Confirmation that any person(s) or organisation who assisted with translations accuracy checks, but who does not meet authorship criteria, has been acknowledged according to our Acknowledgements editorial policies.
Copyediting, reference management & language refinement:
Use of AI tools to assist copyediting, reference management and language refinement is permitted. Authors are responsible for ensuring references are valid, accurate (i.e. not hallucinations) and support the stated claims. Authors must retain the original and revised versions of the article, which must be shared with the Editor upon request. A declaration from the author must be included within the submission stating:
Originality and accuracy of content has been confirmed by the authors.
The name and version number of the AI tool used.
Confirmation the authors have checked terms of use for the specific AI tool used, and therefore confirm suitability for publication.
Confirmation the authors take full responsibility for the integrity of the whole content, including accuracy of references.
Patient authors
Taylor & Francis is dedicated to collaborating with patients, their carers and their support communities. Through the publication of plain language summaries (short, jargon-free summary within an article after its abstract) and plain language summary of publications (a standalone, jargon-free and visual summary of an article) across our journals, we have been able to connect with patient reviewers and patient organizations to make sure that the research we publish strengthens clinical care for those who need it the most. We believe that patient involvement in scholarly publications can help to achieve this and welcome patients as authors on selected Medicine, Dentistry, Nursing & Allied Health journals on several article types. Information about whether a journal considers patient authors, will be available on the Instructions for Authors page of the journal.
Patient authors should fulfil the following criteria:
A person who lives with or is affected by a disease or condition (i.e., a broad definition of patient that includes those with lived conditions or receiving health or social care, caregivers, family members and members of patient advocacy groups who represent them).
A person who provides unique and valuable input from their personal patient perspective to the publication.
A person who meets all the criteria required for authorship, as listed above and as per the International Committee on Medical Journal Ethics’ definition of authorship and the Taylor & Francis authorship policies.
For more information on patient authorship, please visit our guidance for patient authors.
Anonymous authorship and researchers at risk
Where there is a credible risk of serious harm or threat to their life or liberty, as a result of their research or findings, researchers should contact the journal Editor or editorial office to discuss what options for publication may be available to minimise risk to the researcher.
Please note that the purpose of naming authors on scholarly publications is to make sure that the appropriate individuals receive recognition, and are accountable, for the published work. Therefore, anonymous publication may only be considered in exceptional circumstances. Requests will be evaluated on their own merit by the journal Editor and Publisher, and an editorial note or footnote to accompany the publication may be warranted. The Editor and Publisher have full and sole discretion as to whether a request to publish anonymously will be granted and do not provide any guarantee that requests will be granted.
If the Editor and Publisher grants a request to publish anonymously, they cannot and do not make any guarantees with respect to the author’s total anonymity and the author acknowledges that they proceed with publication of the article at their own risk. The Publisher will also require the author to enter into any requisite publishing agreements and copyright documentation under the author’s legal name.
For further information on researchers at risk we recommend the following organisations:
Should you have any further questions regarding this policy, please contact [email protected].
Corresponding author
Co-authors must agree on who will take on the role of corresponding author. It is then the responsibility of the corresponding author to reach consensus with all co-authors regarding all aspects of the article, prior to submission. This includes the authorship list and order, and list of correct affiliations.
The corresponding author is also responsible for liaising with co-authors regarding any editorial queries. And, they act on behalf of all co-authors in any communication about the article throughout: submission, peer review, production, and after publication. The corresponding author signs the publishing agreement on behalf of all the listed authors, and takes responsibility for any applicable APC.
Changes in authorship
Any changes in authorship prior to or after publication must be agreed upon by all authors – including those authors being added or removed. It is the responsibility of the corresponding author to obtain confirmation from all co-authors and to provide a completed Authorship Change Request form to the editorial office.
If a change in authorship is necessary after publication, this will be amended via a post-publication notice. Any changes in authorship must comply with our criteria for authorship. And requests for significant changes to the authorship list, after the article has been accepted, may be rejected if clear reasons and evidence of author contributions cannot be provided. Note that it is not possible to change corresponding author to achieve eligibility for an APC waiver or open access agreement.
Assistance from scientific, medical, technical writers or translators
Contributions made by professional scientific, medical or technical writers, translators or anyone who has assisted with the manuscript content, must be acknowledged. Their source of funding must also be declared.
They should be included in an ‘Acknowledgments’ section with an explanation of their role, or they should be included in the author list if appropriate.
Authors are advised to consult the joint position statement from American Medical Writers Association (AMWA), European Medical Writers Association (EMWA), and International Society of Medical Publication Professionals (ISMPP).
Assistance with experiments and data analysis
Any significant contribution to the research reported, should be appropriately credited according to our authorship criteria.
If any parts of the research were outsourced to professional laboratories or to data analysts, this should be clearly stated within the manuscript, alongside an explanation of their role. Or, they should be included in the author list if appropriate.
Authors are responsible for retaining all of the original data related to their work, and should be prepared to share it with the journal editorial office if requested.
Acknowledgments
Any individuals who have contributed to the article (for example, technical assistance, formatting-related writing assistance, translators, scholarly discussions which significantly contributed to developing the article), but who do not meet the criteria for authorship, should be listed by name and affiliation in an ‘Acknowledgments’ section.
Any assistance from AI tools for content generation (e.g. large language models) and other similar types of technical tools which generate article content, must be clearly acknowledged within the article. If AI tools have been used to assist with translations of authors own work, any person(s) or organisation who assisted with the accuracy checks for the translation, but who does not meet authorship criteria, must be acknowledged.
It is the responsibility of authors to make sure that the validity, originality and integrity of their article content. Authors are expected to use AI tools responsibly, transparently and in accordance with our editorial policies on authorship and principles of publishing ethics.
It is the responsibility of the authors to notify and obtain permission from those they wish to identify in the Acknowledgments section. The process of obtaining permission should include sharing the article, so that those being identified can verify the context in which their contribution is being acknowledged.
Biographical note
Please supply a short biographical note for each author. This could be adapted from your departmental website or academic networking profile and should be relatively brief (e.g. no more than 200 words).Authors are responsible for retaining all of the original data related to their work, and should be prepared to share it with the journal editorial office if requested.
Author name changes on published articles
There are many reasons why an author may change their name in the course of their career. And they may wish to update their published articles to reflect this change, without publicly announcing this through a correction notice. Taylor & Francis will update journal articles where an author makes a request for their own name change, full or partial, without the requirement for an accompanying correction notice. Any pronouns in accompanying author bios and declaration statements will also be updated as part of the name change, if required.
When an author requests a name change, Taylor & Francis will:
Change the metadata associated with the article on our Taylor & Francis Online platform.
Update the HTML and PDF version of the article.
Resupply the new metadata and article content to any abstracting and indexing services that have agreements with the journal. Note: such services may have their own bibliographic policies regarding author name changes. Taylor \u0026amp; Francis cannot be held responsible for controlling updates to articles on third party sites and services once an article has been disseminated.
If an author wishes for a correction notice to be published alongside their name change, Taylor & Francis will accommodate this on request. But, it is not required for an author name change to be made.
To request a name change, please contact your Journal’s Production Editor or contact us. Please note that for any full name changes (i.e. changes to both forename and surname), in order to make this change, we will request legal proof of the name change, such as governmental documentation (e.g. deed poll). Any documentation provided must include both the previous and new name.
Taylor & Francis consider it a breach of publication ethics to request a name change for an individual without their explicit consent.
Additional resources
Co-authorship in the Humanities and Social Sciences – our white paper based on a global survey of researchers’ experiences of collaboration.
Discussion Document: Authorship – produced by COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics), this updated guide includes practical advice on addressing the most common ethical issues in this area
Ethics for authors – guidelines, support, and your checklist.