Authorship and Contributorship Policy
Scholarly Contribution • Transparency • Accountability
Authorship and Contributorship Policy
Journal of Geographical Planning requires authorship to accurately reflect substantial scholarly contributions to research in geographical planning, spatial planning, regional development, urban and rural planning, land-use planning, GIS and remote sensing, environmental planning, disaster-risk planning, spatial policy, sustainable territorial development, and related fields.
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, reproducibility, 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 planning or geographical research problem, conceptual framework, spatial-analysis design, land-use assessment, regional or urban study, GIS analysis, remote-sensing interpretation, field survey, stakeholder analysis, environmental assessment, disaster-risk analysis, methodology, statistical analysis, modeling, or interpretation of findings. |
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Intellectual Contribution to the Manuscript Active participation in drafting the manuscript or critically revising its geographical framework, planning rationale, spatial methodology, land-use interpretation, regional-development analysis, policy discussion, sustainability implications, or scholarly contribution. |
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Final Approval Review and approval of the final manuscript, including the accuracy of author names, affiliations, spatial datasets, maps, study-area descriptions, planning indicators, model assumptions, policy findings, declarations, and references. |
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Accountability Agreement to take responsibility for the author's contribution and to cooperate in resolving questions concerning spatial data, maps, GIS analysis, remote-sensing results, planning models, field data, stakeholder information, policy analysis, 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 planning agencies, communities, study areas, spatial datasets, maps, or administrative records only |
| • General academic, planning, or administrative supervision | • Holding a governmental, planning, institutional, consultancy, managerial, or professional position |
| • Routine digitization, map preparation, data entry, transcription, or clerical assistance | • Language editing, proofreading, translation, or formatting only |
| • Providing GIS software, satellite imagery, GPS equipment, facilities, or logistical support only | • General encouragement, networking, 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 geographical or planning research ideas, spatial problems, land-use questions, regional-development hypotheses, territorial concepts, or planning frameworks. |
Methodology Development or design of GIS, remote sensing, spatial-statistical, survey, qualitative, mixed, land-use, accessibility, suitability, environmental, disaster-risk, or planning-analysis methods. |
| Formal Analysis Spatial, statistical, regional, land-use, accessibility, suitability, environmental, demographic, network, policy, or other geographical and planning analysis. |
Investigation Conducting field surveys, spatial observations, stakeholder interviews, community assessments, land-use verification, infrastructure studies, environmental assessments, or empirical data collection. |
| Data Curation Collecting, cleaning, georeferencing, digitizing, coding, integrating, organizing, documenting, or maintaining spatial, demographic, environmental, infrastructure, land-use, or planning datasets. |
Software GIS processing, remote-sensing classification, spatial modeling, statistical coding, geospatial database development, network analysis, or development of planning-support tools. |
| Validation Verification of spatial datasets, map accuracy, classifications, planning indicators, model assumptions, field-validation results, suitability analyses, or research outputs. |
Visualization Preparation of maps, thematic maps, spatial models, planning diagrams, regional-development figures, dashboards, charts, or geospatial visualizations. |
| Writing – Original Draft Preparation of the initial scholarly manuscript. |
Writing – Review & Editing Critical intellectual review and substantive manuscript revision. |
| Resources Provision of essential spatial datasets, satellite imagery, planning documents, maps, field instruments, software, institutional data, 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 – GIS / Remote Sensing / Spatial Planning Research
Author Contributions: A.B.: Conceptualization, Methodology, Software, Formal Analysis, Writing – Original Draft. C.D.: Data Curation, Investigation, Validation, Visualization. E.F.: Supervision, Resources, Writing – Review & Editing. All authors approved the final manuscript and agreed to be accountable for their contributions.
Example – Regional / Urban / Community Planning 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, spatial-data or GIS 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, permissions, and Conflict of Interest Statements where applicable | ✓ Coordinates Data, GIS, Remote Sensing, Map, or Supplementary Material Availability where applicable |
| ✓ Coordinates final proof approval | ✓ Responds to post-publication methodological or research-integrity inquiries when necessary |
6. Unacceptable Authorship Practices
| ✕ Guest / Honorary Authorship Adding senior academics, government officials, planning-agency leaders, consultants, institutional heads, or respected individuals who did not make sufficient scholarly contributions. |
✕ Ghost Authorship Excluding individuals who made substantial contributions to spatial analysis, GIS processing, planning design, field investigation, remote-sensing analysis, policy interpretation, 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, planning, institutional, consultancy, 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, planning authority, employer, or another appropriate body. 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 geospatial or planning platforms must not be listed as authors or co-authors. AI cannot accept accountability, approve a manuscript, declare conflicts of interest, or take responsibility for research integrity. Relevant AI-assisted activities, including AI-supported writing, coding, geospatial classification, satellite-image interpretation, spatial modeling, map generation, forecasting, data processing, 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 | ✓ Spatial-data sources, GIS/remote-sensing methods, map information, permissions, ethics, and supplementary-material statements are accurate where applicable |
| ✓ AI-assisted activities have been disclosed where required | ✓ All authors accept responsibility for the published work |
Authorship Principle
In Journal of Geographical Planning, authorship is based on substantive intellectual contribution and accountability. Academic rank, governmental or planning authority, institutional position, access to spatial datasets, maps, satellite imagery, communities, planning agencies, GIS software, funding alone, routine digitization or mapping assistance, supervisory status, or professional seniority does not by itself justify authorship.
