Locus Journal of Academic Literature Review (JALR) requires accurate and transparent attribution of authorship. This policy establishes the journal's operational standards for identifying authors, documenting their contributions, acknowledging non-author assistance, and resolving authorship concerns. It complements the journal's Publication Ethics, Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy, Peer Review Process, and Author Guidelines.

1. Criteria for Authorship

JALR adopts the following four-part authorship standard, informed by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). Every named author must meet all four criteria:

1. Make a substantial contribution to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data.
2. Draft the manuscript or critically review it for important intellectual content.
3. Approve the final version to be published.
4. Agree to be accountable for their own contributions and to cooperate in resolving questions concerning the integrity or accuracy of any part of the work.

Funding acquisition, general supervision, routine administrative assistance, data collection alone, language editing, or provision of facilities does not, by itself, justify authorship. Individuals who contribute but do not meet all authorship criteria should be acknowledged, with their permission.

2. Author Contributions and CRediT

All authors must agree on their individual contributions before submission. JALR requests an Author Contributions Statement that identifies each author's role using the CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) where applicable, such as conceptualization, methodology, investigation, data curation, formal analysis, validation, writing – original draft, writing – review and editing, visualization, supervision, project administration, or funding acquisition. The stated roles must accurately reflect work performed; a CRediT role does not automatically establish authorship without meeting the criteria above.

3. Author Order and Corresponding Author

The order of authors must be agreed upon by all authors before submission and must reflect an appropriate collective decision. The corresponding author serves as the primary contact with JALR, verifies author names, affiliations, email addresses, contribution and ethics declarations, communicates editorial decisions to all co-authors, and coordinates manuscript revisions and proof approval. Corresponding-author status does not confer sole authority to change the author list or override the consent of co-authors.

4. Authorship Changes

Requests to add, remove, or reorder authors after initial submission must be submitted to the editorial office with a written explanation and documented agreement from all current authors and any author being added or removed. The editor may request further evidence and may suspend consideration until the matter is resolved. After acceptance, authorship changes are exceptional and require strong justification. After publication, justified changes will be handled through a transparent published correction where appropriate; the published record must not be silently altered.

5. Prohibited Authorship Practices

JALR does not permit gift, guest, honorary, ghost, purchased, or fabricated authorship. Individuals must not be listed as authors solely because of seniority, institutional position, funding authority, or professional relationships. Authors must not omit qualifying contributors, submit false affiliations, or misrepresent contribution statements. Manuscripts involving suspected authorship manipulation may be held for clarification, rejected, or referred for further inquiry under the journal's Publication Ethics policy.

6. AI Tools and Non-author Contributions

Artificial intelligence tools cannot be named as authors or co-authors. Human authors remain responsible for verifying all AI-assisted content and disclosing reportable use according to JALR's AI Policy. Contributions by research assistants, translators, technical editors, language editors, and other non-authors should be acknowledged when appropriate. Authors must obtain permission from individuals named in the Acknowledgments section.

7. Disputes, Verification, and Editorial Action

Authorship disputes should first be addressed among the contributors and, where necessary, through their institutions. JALR may request signed declarations, contribution records, or institutional clarification, but does not adjudicate complex factual disputes about who performed the research. If an unresolved dispute affects the reliability of authorship information, editorial processing may be paused. Suspected misconduct will be handled fairly and confidentially, following the journal's Publication Ethics procedures and relevant COPE guidance.

8. Submission Requirements

Before submission, the corresponding author must ensure that the following information is accurate and available to the journal:

• Full author names, affiliations, and contact details in OJS metadata.
• An agreed author order and a designated corresponding author.
• An accurate Author Contributions Statement.
• Declarations concerning conflicts of interest, funding, research ethics, and reportable AI use, where applicable.
• A manuscript file prepared for double-anonymous review, with author-identifying information removed from the review copy.

Editors may request missing or inconsistent declarations before sending a manuscript for external peer review. Author metadata and the final published article must remain consistent with the verified authorship record.

Policy references: ICMJE Recommendations (authorship criteria); NISO CRediT taxonomy; COPE guidance on authorship and contributorship. These operational standards complement the Indonesian Journal Accreditation Technical Guidelines 2026.