Authorship and Contributorship

Journal of Asian Orientation in Theology is committed to transparency, accountability, and integrity in scholarly publishing. Its authorship and contributorship policy is informed by the ethical principles and best practices promoted by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) where applicable.

This policy establishes the criteria for authorship, the disclosure of individual contributions, and the procedures for addressing authorship-related concerns. The journal publishes articles under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) license, under which authors retain copyright while granting the public the rights specified by the applicable license.

1. Criteria for Authorship

Authorship in the Journal of Asian Orientation in Theology is reserved for individuals who have made substantial intellectual contributions to the research and the preparation of the manuscript. All individuals designated as authors must satisfy the following criteria:

Substantial Contribution: Each author must have made a substantial contribution to at least one of the following: the conception or design of the study; the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data; or the development of methods, software, or other essential components of the research.
Manuscript Preparation or Critical Revision: Each author must have participated in drafting the manuscript or critically revising it for significant intellectual content.
Final Approval: Each author must approve the final version of the manuscript submitted for publication and any subsequent version requiring author approval.
Accountability: Each author must agree to take responsibility for their own contributions and cooperate in ensuring that questions concerning the accuracy, integrity, or ethical conduct of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

All individuals who meet these criteria should be listed as authors. Individuals who do not meet the authorship criteria should not be included as authors solely on the basis of their position, seniority, institutional affiliation, or supervisory role.

2. Contributorship Statement

To promote transparency and clarify individual responsibilities, the Journal of Asian Orientation in Theology may require authors to submit a contributorship statement during manuscript submission. The statement should identify each author's specific contributions to the research and manuscript preparation.

Authors are encouraged to use the Contributor Roles Taxonomy (CRediT), where applicable, to describe contributions such as conceptualization, methodology, software development, data curation, formal analysis, investigation, visualization, writing of the original draft, and writing, review, and editing.

All authors are responsible for ensuring that the contributorship statement accurately reflects the work performed. The statement will be handled in accordance with the journal's editorial and disclosure policies. Where appropriate, the journal may publish the statement alongside the article.

3. Acknowledgment of Non-Author Contributions

Individuals who have contributed to the research but do not meet the authorship criteria may be acknowledged in the acknowledgment section, provided that their contributions are relevant and their permission to be acknowledged has been obtained.

Examples include technical assistance, language editing, administrative support, or other contributions that do not constitute substantial intellectual contributions to the research. Financial support and institutional assistance should be disclosed in the appropriate funding or acknowledgment statements.

Acknowledgment must not be used as a substitute for authorship when an individual's contributions satisfy the journal's authorship criteria.

4. Honorary Authorship and Ghost Authorship

Journal of Asian Orientation in Theology does not permit honorary, gift, or guest authorship, in which an individual is listed as an author without meeting the established authorship criteria. The journal also prohibits ghost authorship, in which an individual who has made a qualifying contribution is omitted from the author list without appropriate disclosure.

All listed authors must have made genuine contributions to the work and accept responsibility for their authorship. Authors are expected to disclose any professional writing or editorial assistance that materially contributed to the manuscript, including the identity and relevant affiliations of those providing such assistance, where applicable.

Suspected cases of inappropriate authorship will be assessed in accordance with the journal's publication ethics policy and relevant COPE guidance. Appropriate corrective action may be taken when a breach is established.

5. Authorship Disputes

Any disagreement concerning authorship, author order, or individual contributions should first be addressed by the authors involved, where appropriate. If the dispute is brought to the journal's attention, the editorial board will assess the matter impartially and request relevant documentation or written statements from the parties concerned.

Journal of Asian Orientation in Theology may seek guidance from COPE or other appropriate bodies when necessary. Where a dispute cannot be resolved through the journal's editorial process, the journal may refer the matter to the relevant institution or research organization for investigation.

The journal will not determine matters that require institutional authority beyond its editorial remit. However, it retains responsibility for responding appropriately to credible concerns about publication ethics and for taking editorial action when warranted.

6. Changes in Authorship

Requests to add, remove, or reorder authors after manuscript submission must be accompanied by a written explanation stating the reasons for the proposed change. The request must include written confirmation from all existing authors and any individuals to be added or removed, as applicable.

The editorial board will evaluate the request to determine whether the proposed change is justified and consistent with the journal's authorship criteria. Additional documentation or institutional clarification may be requested.

The Journal of Asian Orientation in Theology may suspend editorial processing while the request is being evaluated. Changes will not be made solely on the basis of a request from one author without appropriate consideration of the views and contributions of the other parties involved. Any approved change will be documented in the journal's editorial records.

7. Declaration of Conflicts of Interest

All authors must disclose financial and non-financial interests that could reasonably be perceived as influencing the research, its interpretation, or the reporting of its findings.

Potential conflicts may include financial relationships, employment, institutional affiliations, personal relationships, professional interests, or other competing interests relevant to the submitted work. Authors must provide a clear declaration of any such interests or explicitly state that no conflicts of interest exist.

The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that all co-authors have disclosed relevant conflicts of interest and that the declaration accurately represents the information provided by the author team.

8. Compliance with Research Ethics

All authors must comply with the research ethics requirements of the Journal of Asian Orientation in Theology, as outlined in the journal's publication ethics policy, and with applicable ethical standards in their respective fields.

Authors must ensure that the research has been conducted responsibly and that appropriate permissions, approvals, and informed consent have been obtained where required. This includes, as applicable, research involving human participants, personal or sensitive data, copyrighted materials, and other protected resources.

Authors must provide relevant ethics approval details or supporting documentation when requested by the editorial board. Any suspected ethical misconduct related to authorship or research integrity will be handled in accordance with the journal's publication ethics procedures.

9. Review and Revision of the Policy

Journal of Asian Orientation in Theology reviews this authorship and contributorship policy periodically to ensure that it remains consistent with evolving scholarly publishing practices, applicable ethical standards, and recommendations from relevant organizations.

Any revisions will be approved through the journal's editorial procedures and published on the official journal website. Authors are expected to comply with the policy in effect at the time of manuscript submission, subject to any applicable transitional provisions announced by the journal.