Author Contributions Statement
ICMJE encourages contributorship policies and notes that some journals request and publish information about each person’s contributions. It separately defines authorship criteria, so a contribution statement should report roles without collapsing contribution and authorship into the same decision.
An author contributions statement identifies who did which parts of a scholarly work. Use the journal’s required contributor taxonomy or wording, and do not treat contribution listing by itself as proof that someone satisfies authorship criteria.
Key details
Important caveats
Scope Boundary
["A listed contribution does not by itself establish authorship eligibility; authorship criteria and acknowledgement rules remain separate editorial decisions."]
Further guidance
Content
["Identify contributions using the journal’s required labels, taxonomy or free-text format and make the attribution specific enough to be meaningful."]
Practical Application
List who performed which parts of the work using the journal’s required wording or contributor taxonomy. Keep the contribution statement distinct from authorship qualification: contribution labels document roles, while authorship eligibility still depends on the journal’s authorship criteria.
Purpose
["Use a contributions statement to make individual roles in the work transparent when the journal or publisher requests it."]
Reader Check
Can a reader tell which named contributor performed each stated role, and has the journal’s authorship/disclosure policy been checked separately?
Worked Example
A statement might say that A.B. designed the study, C.D. analyzed the data, and both drafted and revised the manuscript; do not infer from one listed role alone that a person automatically meets every authorship criterion.
Sources and evidence
Sources are shown with the role they play in this guide. Historical or style-sensitive claims are kept within the evidence boundary described above.
- Defining the Role of Authors and Contributors — ICMJE (opens in a new tab)International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) · ICMJE authorship/contributorship guidance supporting contributor-role statements and distinguishing contribution from authorship