Authorship

The journal follows the ICMJE authorship policy. A person is considered an author only if they meet all four of the following criteria:

1. Substantial contribution to the conception or design of the work, or to the acquisition, analysis or interpretation of data.
2. Participation in drafting the manuscript or revising it critically for important intellectual content.
3. Approval of the final version of the manuscript to be published.
4. Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work, ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the research are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Those who have made relevant contributions without meeting all four criteria may be listed in the Acknowledgments section.

Each author must state their specific contribution to the manuscript using the following categories:

• Conception/design of the work.
• Data/information collection.
• Data analysis and interpretation.
• Drafting of the manuscript.
• Critical revision of the manuscript.
• Approval of the final version.
• Other contributions (to be specified).

Each submission also declares the institutional affiliation, country and ORCID of every author. The journal promotes the geographical and institutional diversity of its authorship and evaluates manuscripts on their merit, regardless of origin. These data are included in the metadata of the published article and underpin the diversity and equity policy.

Each submission must designate a corresponding author, whose email address appears on the first page of the published article and serves as the contact channel during the editorial process and after publication.

Changes in authorship are handled in accordance with COPE guidance, with the agreement of all signatories. Regarding the use of artificial intelligence in preparing manuscripts, the guidelines in the use of artificial intelligence (AI) policy apply.