World Nutrition Journal (WNJ) follows the recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) regarding authorship and contributorship.

Authorship provides both academic credit and responsibility for published work. All individuals listed as authors must have made substantial intellectual contributions to the manuscript and must be able to take responsibility for the integrity of the work.

1. Authorship Criteria

To qualify as an author, an individual must meet all four ICMJE authorship criteria:

1. Have made substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or to the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data;
2. Have participated in drafting the manuscript or critically reviewing it for important intellectual content;
3. Have approved the final version of the manuscript to be published; and
4. Agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work and to ensure that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

All individuals who meet these four criteria should be listed as authors.

Individuals who do not meet all four criteria should not be listed as authors but may be acknowledged as contributors where appropriate.

2. Responsibilities of Authors

All authors are expected to:

• Review and approve the manuscript before submission;
• Approve the final version before publication;
• Be familiar with the contributions of their co-authors;
• Take responsibility for their own contributions to the work;
• Have confidence in the integrity of the contributions made by their co-authors;
• Provide accurate information regarding authorship, affiliations, funding, conflicts of interest, and contributions;
• Cooperate with the journal in responding to questions concerning the accuracy or integrity of the published work.

The inclusion of guest, honorary, or gift authors who do not meet the authorship criteria is not permitted.

Similarly, individuals who meet the criteria for authorship should not be omitted from the author list.

3. Corresponding Author

The corresponding author serves as the primary contact between the authors and World Nutrition Journal throughout the submission, peer-review, publication, and post-publication processes.

The corresponding author is responsible for:

• Ensuring that all eligible authors are included in the manuscript;
• Ensuring that all authors have reviewed and approved the submitted manuscript;
• Ensuring that author names, affiliations, and contact information are accurate;
• Coordinating communication between the journal and all co-authors;
• Ensuring completion of required declarations, including ethical approval, informed consent, funding, conflicts of interest, author contributions, and AI use, where applicable;
• Communicating editorial decisions and revisions to all authors; and
• Ensuring that all authors approve the final version prior to publication.

Designation as corresponding author does not imply greater authorship credit than that of the other authors.

4. Contributorship and CRediT Taxonomy

World Nutrition Journal requires an Author Contributions Statement to clearly describe the contribution of each author.

Authors are encouraged to use the CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) to describe individual contributions.

The CRediT taxonomy includes the following 14 contributor roles:

• Conceptualization
• Data curation
• Formal analysis
• Funding acquisition
• Investigation
• Methodology
• Project administration
• Resources
• Software
• Supervision
• Validation
• Visualization
• Writing – original draft
• Writing – review & editing

One author may have more than one role, and the same role may be assigned to more than one author.

The CRediT taxonomy describes how individuals contributed to the work but does not itself determine eligibility for authorship. All individuals listed as authors must still meet the authorship criteria described above.

5. Author Contributions Statement

A statement describing the contributions of each author must be included in the manuscript.

Example

Author Contributions:
ABC: Conceptualization, Methodology, Investigation, Writing – original draft. DEF: Formal analysis, Data curation, Visualization, Writing – review & editing. GHI: Supervision, Methodology, Writing – review & editing. All authors reviewed and approved the final manuscript and agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work.

Authors should use initials that clearly correspond to the author names listed in the manuscript.

6. Contributors Who Do Not Qualify for Authorship

Individuals who contributed to the work but do not meet all four authorship criteria should be acknowledged rather than listed as authors.

Examples may include individuals who provided:

• General administrative support;
• Technical assistance;
• Language editing;
• Medical writing assistance;
• Statistical consultation without broader intellectual contribution;
• Data collection alone;
• Funding acquisition alone; or
• General supervision alone.

The contribution of acknowledged individuals should be clearly described.

Authors must obtain permission from individuals before naming them in the Acknowledgements section.

7. Changes to Authorship

The authorship list and author order should be agreed upon by all authors before manuscript submission.

Requests to add, remove, or rearrange authors after submission must be supported by:

1. A clear explanation for the requested change; and
2. Written agreement from all authors, including the author being added or removed, where applicable.

Authorship changes are subject to editorial review.

Requests for changes in authorship after acceptance will only be considered under exceptional circumstances.

Changes requested after publication may require a formal correction in accordance with the journal's correction policy.

8. Authorship Disputes

Authors are collectively responsible for determining authorship and author order before submission.

World Nutrition Journal does not normally adjudicate authorship disputes.

If an authorship dispute cannot be resolved among the authors, the matter should be referred to the relevant institution(s) where the research was conducted for investigation and resolution.

The editorial process may be suspended until the dispute has been appropriately resolved.

9. Artificial Intelligence and Authorship

Artificial intelligence (AI) tools, including generative AI and large language models, cannot be listed as authors or co-authors because they cannot meet authorship criteria or take responsibility for the integrity of published work.

Human authors remain fully responsible for any content produced or modified with the assistance of AI tools.

Any use of AI-assisted technology must be disclosed in accordance with the World Nutrition Journal Policy on the Use of Artificial Intelligence and Automated Tools.

10. Author Accountability

Submission of a manuscript to World Nutrition Journal indicates that all authors:

• Meet the journal's authorship criteria;
• Have approved the submitted manuscript;
• Agree with the stated author contributions;
• Accept responsibility and accountability for the published work; and
• Agree to cooperate with the journal if questions regarding authorship, research integrity, or the accuracy of the article arise.

World Nutrition Journal reserves the right to request additional documentation regarding authorship and contributions when necessary.