Authorship and Contributorship Policy
Scholarly Contribution • Transparency • Accountability
Authorship and Contributorship Policy
Psychosocia : Journal of Applied Psychology and Social Psychology requires authorship to accurately reflect substantial scholarly contributions to research in applied psychology, social psychology, behavioral science, mental health, interpersonal relations, community psychology, organizational behavior, psychological assessment, intervention, 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, ethical conduct, 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 psychological research problem, conceptual or theoretical framework, research design, participant recruitment, sampling strategy, psychological assessment, instrument development, intervention design, data collection, behavioral observation, methodology, statistical analysis, qualitative analysis, or interpretation of findings. |
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Intellectual Contribution to the Manuscript Active participation in drafting the manuscript or critically revising its psychological theory, conceptual framework, methodology, psychometric analysis, interpretation, discussion, intervention implications, 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, psychological findings, assessment results, declarations, ethical information, and references. |
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Accountability Agreement to take responsibility for the author's contribution and to cooperate in resolving questions concerning participant data, psychological instruments, interventions, analysis, research ethics, confidentiality, 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 participants, communities, organizations, clinics, schools, or psychological data only |
| • General academic, clinical, or administrative supervision | • Holding a managerial, clinical, institutional, organizational, or professional position |
| • Routine data entry, transcription, scheduling, or clerical assistance | • Language editing, proofreading, translation, or formatting only |
| • Providing psychological tests, facilities, meeting rooms, or equipment only | • General encouragement, counseling support, 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 psychological research ideas, questions, hypotheses, theoretical models, behavioral constructs, or conceptual frameworks. |
Methodology Development or design of quantitative, qualitative, mixed, experimental, correlational, psychometric, intervention, survey, or other psychological research methods. |
| Formal Analysis Statistical, psychometric, behavioral, qualitative, thematic, experimental, intervention, or other analytical work. |
Investigation Conducting interviews, surveys, psychological assessments, observations, experiments, interventions, focus groups, fieldwork, or empirical data collection. |
| Data Curation Collecting, cleaning, coding, anonymizing, organizing, documenting, or maintaining psychological, behavioral, participant, assessment, or intervention datasets. |
Software Statistical coding, psychometric analysis scripts, behavioral-data processing, digital intervention tools, experimental software, or development of analytical systems. |
| Validation Verification of analytical results, psychological measures, instrument validity, reliability, coding, intervention procedures, or research outputs. |
Visualization Preparation of research tables, figures, psychological models, behavioral diagrams, intervention frameworks, 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 psychological instruments, datasets, research materials, participant access, intervention resources, 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 / Psychometric Psychology 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 / Applied or Social Psychology Study
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, 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, consent, and Conflict of Interest Statements | ✓ Coordinates the Data Availability Statement where applicable |
| ✓ Coordinates final proof approval | ✓ Responds to post-publication inquiries when necessary |
6. Unacceptable Authorship Practices
| ✕ Guest / Honorary Authorship Adding senior academics, supervisors, clinicians, institutional leaders, managers, or respected individuals who did not make sufficient scholarly contributions. |
✕ Ghost Authorship Excluding individuals who made substantial contributions to study design, psychological assessment, intervention, analysis, or manuscript development 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, clinical, institutional, organizational, 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, 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, and generative AI systems 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, coding, translation, data processing, or analysis, 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, confidentiality, and participant-information statements are accurate where applicable |
| ✓ AI-assisted activities have been disclosed where required | ✓ All authors accept responsibility for the published work |
Authorship Principle
In Psychosocia : Journal of Applied Psychology and Social Psychology, authorship is based on substantive intellectual contribution and accountability. Academic rank, clinical or institutional authority, access to participants, communities, organizations, psychological instruments, or datasets, funding alone, supervisory status, professional seniority, or organizational position does not by itself justify authorship.
