Authorship and Contributorship

1. Criteria for Authorship

Individuals listed as authors must meet the journal's authorship requirements. Authorship is expected to involve all four of the following elements.

Substantial Research Contribution

Meaningful intellectual involvement in conceptualization, research design, theoretical development, data collection, methodological development, or interpretation of findings.

Intellectual Contribution to the Manuscript

Active participation in drafting the manuscript or critically revising its theoretical arguments, methodological approach, analysis, interpretation, or scholarly contribution.

Final Manuscript Approval

Review and approval of the final version, including author information, research findings, references, declarations, and substantive revisions.

Accountability

Agreement to take responsibility for one's contributions and to cooperate in addressing questions concerning research validity, evidence, ethics, authorship, or publication integrity.

Activities That Do Not Alone Qualify for Authorship

The following activities, when performed without sufficient intellectual contribution, do not independently justify authorship:

Providing financial support or research funding only.
Granting access to government institutions or administrative records.
Providing contact information for respondents or informants.
General academic, institutional, or administrative supervision.
Holding a senior academic, government, political, or organizational position.
Routine data entry, transcription, or clerical assistance.
Language editing, proofreading, formatting, or technical preparation alone.
Providing facilities, equipment, or general research support.

Individuals whose contributions do not meet authorship criteria may be recognized in the Acknowledgments section, with their permission where appropriate.

2. Author Contribution Statement and CRediT Taxonomy

Every manuscript must provide an accurate Author Contribution Statement identifying the work undertaken by each author.

Authors are encouraged to use the internationally recognized CRediT Contributor Roles Taxonomy, which identifies fourteen categories of scholarly contribution.

The following roles may be assigned individually or jointly to authors, as appropriate.

Conceptualization Development of research ideas, objectives, questions, or conceptual approaches.	Methodology Design and development of research methods, models, and analytical procedures.
Investigation Conducting fieldwork, interviews, surveys, document examination, or other research activities.	Formal Analysis Statistical, qualitative, comparative, institutional, policy, or other systematic analysis.
Data Curation Organizing, coding, cleaning, documenting, and maintaining research data.	Software Programming, analytical scripts, computational methods, and research software development.
Validation Verification of research findings, analytical procedures, or methodological results.	Visualization Preparation of analytical figures, maps, research models, diagrams, or data visualizations.
Writing – Original Draft Preparation of the initial scholarly manuscript.	Writing – Review & Editing Substantive intellectual review, revision, and scholarly editing.
Resources Provision of research materials, data sources, instruments, or essential analytical resources.	Supervision Scholarly oversight, research guidance, and intellectual leadership.
Project Administration Planning, coordination, and management of research activities.	Funding Acquisition Obtaining financial support for the research project.

Important: CRediT describes the nature of a person's contribution; it does not independently establish authorship eligibility. Individuals must also satisfy the journal's authorship criteria.

3. Examples of Author Contribution Statements

Example A — Quantitative Public Policy Research

Author Contributions: A.B.: Conceptualization, Methodology, Formal Analysis, Writing – Original Draft. C.D.: Data Curation, Software, Validation, Visualization. E.F.: Supervision, Writing – Review & Editing. All authors reviewed and approved the final manuscript and agreed to be accountable for their contributions.

Example B — Qualitative Governance Research

Author Contributions: A.B.: Conceptualization, Investigation, Methodology, Writing – Original Draft. C.D.: Investigation, Data Curation, Formal Analysis. E.F.: Validation, Supervision, Writing – Review & Editing. All authors reviewed and approved the final manuscript and accepted responsibility for their respective contributions.

Example C — Conceptual International Relations Research

Author Contributions: A.B.: Conceptualization, Methodology, Writing – Original Draft. C.D.: Formal Analysis, Validation, Writing – Review & Editing. Both authors approved the final manuscript and agreed to be accountable for their contributions.

These examples illustrate possible contribution statements. Authors must report their actual roles accurately and must not claim contributions that were not performed.

4. Author Order and Author Identification

Author order must be determined collectively and approved by the author group before manuscript submission.

The journal does not ordinarily determine author order or assign authorship positions. The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that all listed authors have approved the order and manuscript submission.

Author names, affiliations, email addresses, and relevant author identifiers must be accurate and consistent across the manuscript, OJS metadata, declarations, and final published article.

Authors are encouraged to provide ORCID iDs to improve author identification and the accuracy of scholarly publication records.

5. Corresponding Author Responsibilities

One author must be designated as the corresponding author and serve as the primary point of communication between the journal and the author group.

The corresponding author is responsible for:

Confirming that all authors approve manuscript submission.
Verifying names, affiliations, contact details, and author order.
Managing manuscript submission and editorial correspondence.
Coordinating responses to reviewers and substantive revisions.
Confirming that all authors approve the final manuscript.
Ensuring that contribution, funding, ethics, and conflict-of-interest declarations are complete.
Coordinating data-availability information and required supporting documents.
Managing proof approval and responding to post-publication inquiries.

6. Unacceptable Authorship Practices

MPR does not permit inappropriate authorship arrangements that misrepresent scholarly contribution or accountability.

Guest or Honorary Authorship: Listing individuals who do not meet authorship criteria because of status, reputation, or institutional authority.
Ghost Authorship: Omitting individuals who satisfy authorship requirements or concealing qualifying authors' involvement.
Gift or Reciprocal Authorship: Granting authorship in exchange for favors or without an appropriate contribution.
Purchased Authorship: Buying, selling, or transferring authorship positions.
Coercive Authorship: Requiring inclusion because of supervisory, employment, political, or institutional power.
Unauthorized Authorship: Listing individuals without their knowledge or approval.

7. Changes to Authorship

Changes involving the addition, removal, replacement, or rearrangement of authors after manuscript submission require a clear explanation and appropriate written agreement from all affected authors.

Before Acceptance Changes may be considered following editorial review of the explanation and authors' written agreement.

After Acceptance Changes are exceptional and require editorial approval before publication.

After Publication Substantiated changes may require a formal correction to the published scholarly record.

The Editorial Team may request additional documentation and may suspend processing where the legitimacy of a requested change cannot be adequately established.

8. Authorship Disputes

Authorship disputes should ordinarily be resolved by the authors and their institutions before submission or publication.

When a dispute arises during editorial processing, the journal may request explanations, authorship declarations, contribution records, and other relevant documentation.

The Editorial Team does not normally determine factual disputes concerning individual contributions when independent institutional investigation is required.

Unresolved cases may be referred to the relevant institution, research-integrity office, or appropriate authority. Editorial processing may be suspended until sufficient clarification or resolution has been obtained.

9. Artificial Intelligence and Authorship

Artificial intelligence systems, generative AI tools, chatbots, and large language models must not be listed as authors or co-authors.

AI systems cannot independently approve manuscripts, accept scholarly accountability, declare conflicts of interest, or respond to research-integrity concerns.

Any permitted AI assistance must be disclosed according to the journal's Artificial Intelligence and Generative AI Policy. Human authors remain fully responsible for the final manuscript.

10. Authorship Verification and Editorial Action

The Editorial Team may request clarification or supporting evidence when concerns arise about authorship accuracy, contribution statements, unauthorized author changes, or inappropriate authorship practices.

Where a concern is substantiated, the journal may require correction of author metadata, revised declarations, institutional clarification, or other appropriate measures.

Serious or unresolved authorship misconduct may result in rejection, suspension of editorial processing, or post-publication corrective action in accordance with the journal's publication-ethics and complaints procedures.

Authorship Checklist Before Submission

Every listed author satisfies the authorship criteria.
No eligible author has been improperly omitted.
Author order has been agreed upon by all authors.
All authors have reviewed and approved the manuscript.
The Author Contribution Statement accurately identifies each author's role.
The corresponding author has been clearly designated.
Author details are consistent between OJS and the manuscript.
Funding, conflicts of interest, ethics, AI use, and data declarations are accurate.
All authors accept responsibility for the integrity of the work.