AUTHORSHIP CRITERIA

1. Principles of Authorship

Law and Economics is committed to ensuring that authorship accurately reflects the intellectual contributions and scholarly responsibilities of individuals involved in the preparation of a manuscript. The journal upholds the principles of transparency, fairness, accountability, and integrity in academic publishing.

Authorship must be based on substantial intellectual contributions to the research and manuscript. Academic position, institutional affiliation, seniority, funding support, or personal relationships alone do not qualify an individual for authorship.

All individuals listed as authors must satisfy the authorship criteria established by the journal. Each author is expected to understand their contribution to the research, approve the final manuscript, and accept responsibility for the integrity of the published work.

2. Eligibility Criteria for Authorship

To qualify as an author in Law and Economics, an individual must meet all the following criteria:

1. Substantial Scholarly Contribution

The individual must have made a substantial intellectual contribution to at least one of the following aspects of the research:

  • Conception or design of the research.

  • Development of the theoretical framework, conceptual model, or research questions.

  • Formulation of research methods or analytical approaches.

  • Collection, analysis, or interpretation of research data.

  • Examination of legal principles, economic theories, institutional arrangements, or public policy issues.

  • Development of substantive scholarly arguments, interpretations, or conclusions.

2. Participation in Manuscript Preparation

The individual must have participated in drafting the manuscript or critically revising it for significant intellectual content. Contributions must extend beyond routine proofreading, language editing, or formatting.

3. Approval of the Final Manuscript

All authors must review and approve the final version of the manuscript before submission and publication. Each author must agree to the submitted version and its intended publication in Law and Economics.

4. Accountability and Research Integrity

All authors must accept responsibility for their contributions and cooperate in addressing questions concerning the accuracy, validity, originality, or integrity of the research. Authors must ensure that any concerns regarding the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

All four criteria must be satisfied for an individual to be listed as an author. Individuals who have made a substantial initial contribution but have not yet fulfilled the remaining criteria should be given a reasonable opportunity to participate in manuscript preparation, critical revision, and final approval.

3. Contributions That Do Not Independently Qualify for Authorship

The following activities do not independently justify authorship:

  • Providing financial support or research funding without substantial intellectual involvement.

  • Holding an academic, administrative, or managerial position.

  • Providing general supervision or administrative assistance.

  • Offering routine technical assistance, data entry, transcription, or document formatting.

  • Conducting proofreading, translation, or language editing without substantive intellectual contribution.

  • Providing access to research facilities, institutional resources, or research participants without qualifying scholarly involvement.

  • Collecting data or conducting interviews without participating in the intellectual development of the research or manuscript.

Individuals whose contributions do not meet all authorship criteria may be acknowledged in the Acknowledgments section, with their permission. Their contributions must be described accurately and transparently.

4. Author Contributions and Transparency

Law and Economics encourages authors to provide a clear statement describing the individual contributions of each author.

Where appropriate, authors may use the Contributor Roles Taxonomy (CRediT) to identify their respective contributions, including:

  • Conceptualization.

  • Methodology.

  • Investigation.

  • Data curation.

  • Formal analysis.

  • Writing – original draft.

  • Writing – review and editing.

  • Visualization.

  • Supervision.

  • Project administration.

  • Funding acquisition.

The contribution statement must accurately reflect the work performed by each author. Listing a contribution under the CRediT taxonomy does not automatically establish authorship eligibility; all four authorship criteria must still be satisfied.

The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that the contribution statement is accurate and that all listed authors have reviewed and approved it.

5. Corresponding Author Responsibilities

The corresponding author serves as the primary contact between the author team and the editorial office throughout the submission, peer-review, revision, and publication processes.

The corresponding author must:

  1. Ensure that all authors meet the journal's authorship criteria.

  2. Confirm that all authors have approved the manuscript and agreed to its submission to Law and Economics.

  3. Provide accurate author names, affiliations, email addresses, and other required information.

  4. Submit an accurate author contribution statement when requested.

  5. Communicate editorial decisions, reviewer comments, and revision requirements to all co-authors.

  6. Coordinate responses to reviewers and ensure that revisions are reviewed by the relevant authors.

  7. Disclose relevant conflicts of interest and ensure that applicable ethical requirements are met.

  8. Obtain the agreement of all affected authors before requesting any change to the author list or author order.

The corresponding author must not add, remove, or rearrange authors without the required justification and agreement of the affected individuals.

6. Author Order

The order of authors must be determined collectively by the authors before manuscript submission. The author sequence should reflect the nature and extent of each individual's contribution, in accordance with the agreement of the author team and applicable disciplinary conventions.

Law and Economics does not prescribe a universal author-ordering system. However, the order must be transparent, mutually agreed upon, and free from inappropriate influence.

Academic rank, supervisory position, institutional authority, or financial contribution alone must not be used as the sole justification for determining author order.

All authors share responsibility for ensuring that the final author list and author sequence accurately represent their contributions and agreement.

7. Unethical Authorship Practices

Law and Economics does not accept unethical authorship practices, including the following:

Guest or Gift Authorship: Listing an individual who has not made the intellectual contributions required by the journal.

Honorary Authorship: Granting authorship solely because of academic rank, seniority, institutional position, supervisory authority, or personal relationships.

Ghost Authorship: Omitting an individual who has made qualifying contributions to the research and manuscript.

Purchased or Exchanged Authorship: Buying, selling, or exchanging authorship positions or including individuals in exchange for payment, favors, or other inappropriate benefits.

Misrepresentation of Contributions: Providing false, misleading, or incomplete information about the contributions of authors.

Unauthorized Authorship Changes: Adding, removing, or changing the order of authors without appropriate justification and the agreement of the affected individuals.

Suspected violations may result in requests for clarification, additional documentation, suspension of editorial processing, rejection of the manuscript, correction of the published record, or other appropriate action consistent with the journal's publication ethics policies.

8. Changes to Authorship

Any request to add or remove an author or change the order of authors after submission must be submitted in writing to the editorial office by the corresponding author.

The request must include:

  1. A clear explanation of the reason for the proposed change.

  2. A description of the relevant contributions.

  3. Written agreement from all affected authors, including any individual being added or removed.

  4. An updated author contribution statement, where applicable.

The editorial office may suspend the review or publication process while the request is evaluated. The journal reserves the right to request supporting documentation or consult the relevant institutions when necessary.

Changes to authorship after publication will be considered in accordance with the journal's correction and publication ethics policies.

9. Authorship Disputes

Authorship disputes should initially be addressed by the individuals involved, preferably through transparent communication and mutual agreement.

If a dispute cannot be resolved, the editorial office may request written explanations, contribution records, or other relevant documentation. Where appropriate, the journal may seek guidance from the authors' institutions or other competent bodies.

The journal will assess authorship concerns impartially and in accordance with recognized publication ethics principles. The editorial office is not responsible for arbitrating institutional employment disputes but may suspend editorial processing until a dispute affecting the integrity of the manuscript has been adequately addressed.

10. Use of Artificial Intelligence in Authorship

Artificial intelligence (AI) tools, including generative AI systems, cannot be listed as authors or co-authors because they cannot assume the responsibilities, accountability, or legal obligations associated with authorship.

Authors who use AI tools in preparing a manuscript must ensure that the use complies with the journal's applicable policies and disclose such use when required. Any disclosure should identify the tool and describe its role in the preparation of the manuscript, where applicable.

Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, integrity, and scholarly validity of their manuscripts, including the verification of AI-generated text, data, analysis, citations, and references.

AI tools must not be used to fabricate or falsify data, generate misleading evidence, misrepresent research findings, or conceal plagiarism or other forms of research misconduct.

The use of AI tools does not transfer responsibility for any part of the manuscript away from the human authors.

11. Editorial Enforcement

Law and Economics reserves the right to evaluate authorship compliance at any stage of the editorial and publication process.

Where concerns arise, the editorial team may request clarification, supporting documents, author contribution statements, or written confirmation of agreement from all authors.

Depending on the nature and seriousness of the violation, the journal may reject the submission, suspend the editorial process, request a correction, issue an appropriate editorial notice, or take other measures consistent with its publication ethics policies.

All authors are expected to cooperate with reasonable editorial inquiries and provide truthful information concerning their contributions and responsibilities.

12. Author Declaration

By submitting a manuscript to Law and Economics, the corresponding author confirms, on behalf of all co-authors, that:

  • All listed authors meet the journal's authorship criteria.

  • All authors have made genuine scholarly contributions to the work.

  • All authors have reviewed and approved the submitted manuscript.

  • All authors agree to the author list and order.

  • No eligible contributor has been improperly omitted.

  • No individual has been included solely on the basis of position, seniority, funding, or personal relationships.

  • The author contribution statement, where provided, accurately reflects the work performed.

  • All authors accept responsibility for the integrity of their contributions and agree to cooperate in resolving questions concerning the manuscript.

Law and Economics expects every author to uphold the highest standards of scholarly integrity, responsible authorship, and ethical publication.