Authorship Criteria & Contributions

The Journal of Exact Community Health & Rehabilitation Sciences (JECH), published by EXACT RESEARCH SOLUTIONS (SMC-PRIVATE) LIMITED, adheres strictly to internationally recognized ethical publishing guidelines established by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) and the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). This policy ensures complete transparency, accountability, and fairness in assigning credit for scientific contributions in physical therapy, rehabilitation, community health, and allied medical research.

Criteria for Authorship

In accordance with ICMJE guidelines, every individual listed as an author on a manuscript submitted to JECH must meet all four of the following criteria:

Substantial Intellectual Contribution: Significant contributions to the conception, study design, data collection/acquisition, clinical evaluation, statistical analysis, or interpretation of data.
Drafting or Critical Revision: Active participation in drafting the manuscript or revising it critically for important intellectual and clinical content.
Final Approval: Final approval of the version to be published.
Accountability: Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work, ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the study are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Unethical Authorship Practices Prohibited

Gift Authorship: Including individuals who have not contributed significantly to the research.
Guest Authorship: Including senior scholars or department heads solely due to their prestige or position.
Ghost Authorship: Omitting individuals who made significant scientific or writing contributions.

All four criteria must be satisfied. Individuals who do not meet all four requirements (e.g., those providing solely departmental support, administrative oversight, basic technical assistance, or general financial funding) must not be listed as authors but should be acknowledged in the "Acknowledgments" section.

Author Roles & CRediT Statement

To ensure role-based contribution reporting, JECH encourages the use of the CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) framework within the manuscript metadata.

Primary Administrative Roles

Submitting Author: Coordinates the initial manuscript submission via the OJS system (https://jech.exactresolution.com/), ensuring all author contact information, affiliations, and metadata are accurate.
Corresponding Author: Acts as the primary liaison between the journal editorial office and co-authors during double-blind peer review, production, and post-publication. The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring all editorial requirements, ethical disclosures, and licensing agreements are fulfilled.

Group Authorship

When research is conducted by a collaborative group, clinical trial network, or multi-center research committee:

Members of the group who directly satisfy all four ICMJE authorship criteria must be explicitly named in the author list on the title page.
If the manuscript is submitted on behalf of a group, the corresponding author must clearly specify the exact group name and identify which individual members meet full authorship criteria.
Group members who do not meet full authorship criteria may be listed collectively in the Acknowledgments section.

Author Affiliations

Primary Affiliation: Authors must list the institution(s) or organization(s) where the primary research was designed, executed, or clinically conducted as their primary affiliation.
Accuracy: Authors are required to provide complete and accurate departmental and institutional details prior to publication.
Post-Publication Changes: Affiliations cannot be altered after publication except to correct a verified factual error via an official Erratum.

Changes to Authorship

Any request to alter authorship (adding, removing, or reordering author names) after initial submission must adhere to strict procedural rules:

Formal Request: Must be submitted in writing to the editorial office at Admin@jech.exactresolution.com by the Submitting/Corresponding Author, explaining the valid scientific reason for the change.
Authorship Change Form: All authors (including those being added, removed, or reordered) must sign a formal Authorship Change Declaration Form confirming their agreement.
Editorial Approval: The Editor-in-Chief reviews the justification and supporting documentation before granting approval.

Please note: No changes to authorship are permitted once a manuscript has been formally accepted for publication.

Deceased or Incapacitated Authors

If a co-author passes away or becomes incapacitated prior to manuscript submission or publication:

JECH follows recognized international ethical procedures to preserve scientific credit.
Written confirmation of the author's substantial contribution and pre-existing consent to publish will be verified through co-authors, institutional heads, or legal representatives.
A footnote will be added to the published article acknowledging the author's contribution and date of death.

Authorship Disputes

Pre-Publication Disputes: If an authorship dispute arises among contributors during submission or review, the editorial process is paused immediately. The handling editor will not proceed until all authors resolve the disagreement in writing.
Unresolved Disputes: If authors cannot reach an agreement, the dispute will be referred to the authors' institutional oversight board or ethics committee for formal investigation.
Post-Publication Disputes: The journal adheres strictly to institutional investigation findings and COPE guidelines, which may result in an Erratum, Expression of Concern, or Article Retraction if authorship validity is compromised.

Name and Pronoun Changes Post-Publication

JECH supports author identity updates (such as name or pronoun changes due to marriage, gender transition, or religious reasons) in a sensitive and respectful manner:

Requests should be submitted directly to Admin@jech.exactresolution.com.

Updates to published articles are executed without requiring a formal public Erratum notice, preserving author privacy while ensuring metadata accuracy.