AUTHORSHIP POLICY

Responsibility of Authors & Authorship Criteria

All listed authors are collectively responsible for the accuracy, integrity, originality, and ethical conduct of the work presented in the manuscript. The Al-Najam Journal of Medical and Life Sciences (ANJMLS) follows the authorship principles of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) and relevant recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) when determining authorship eligibility and addressing authorship disputes.

Authorship Confirmation & Changes:
The corresponding author is responsible for communicating with the journal and confirming that all listed authors have approved the manuscript, authorship order, affiliations, and submission. Any proposed addition, deletion, or change in the order of authors after submission must be supported by a clear justification and written agreement from all affected authors. Such changes are subject to editorial approval and may require additional documentation before they can be implemented.

Author Contributions & Corresponding Author Responsibilities

ANJMLS encourages authors to provide a clear contribution statement identifying the specific role of each author in the research and manuscript preparation, consistent with applicable ICMJE authorship principles. Individuals who contributed to the work but do not meet the criteria for authorship should be recognized appropriately in the Acknowledgments section where applicable.

The corresponding author serves as the principal point of communication with the Editorial Office and is responsible for ensuring that all authors have reviewed and approved the submitted manuscript and any subsequent revised versions. The corresponding author should also verify author names, affiliations, contribution statements, ethical declarations, funding information, conflict-of-interest disclosures, and other required submission metadata.

Before publication, the corresponding author should ensure that the final proof has been appropriately reviewed by the author group. Where a post-publication correction involving authorship or author information is required, ANJMLS may request written confirmation from the relevant authors and additional documentation where necessary to establish the appropriate correction.

Affiliations, Consortia & Deceased Authors

Author Address & Affiliation: Authors should provide their institutional affiliation at the time the research was conducted. Where an author's current address differs from the institution at which the work was performed, the current address may be provided separately as a present-address note or footnote, where appropriate.
† Deceased Authors: Where an author dies before publication, the author may remain listed if they made a qualifying contribution to the work. A death dagger (†) may be placed beside the author's name, accompanied by an appropriate explanatory note such as †Deceased with the date of death where relevant and appropriate.
Consortium & Group Authorship: For group or consortium-based research, ANJMLS requires transparent identification of the individuals who qualify for authorship. Where appropriate, consortium members may be listed in the author group or separately according to the journal's submission and indexing requirements. Contributors who do not qualify for authorship may be acknowledged separately.

Reviewer Suggestions & Confidentiality

Authors should treat submitted manuscripts, unpublished research findings, datasets, reviewer correspondence, and editorial communications as confidential until the work has been formally published or otherwise authorized for disclosure. Authors should not attempt to interfere with the peer-review process, contact assigned reviewers directly, or use confidential information obtained through the editorial process for personal or professional advantage.

Reviewer Suggestions: Where the submission system permits, authors may recommend potential reviewers with appropriate subject expertise. Suggested reviewers must be independent of the authors and must not have a personal, professional, institutional, financial, supervisory, collaborative, or other relationship that could reasonably compromise impartiality.

Editorial Authority: Reviewer suggestions are considered only as recommendations. The ANJMLS Editorial Office retains full responsibility for reviewer selection and may decline suggested reviewers or select additional reviewers whenever necessary to ensure appropriate expertise, independence, and integrity of the peer-review process.