Interested in submitting to this journal? We recommend that you review the Author Guidelines page and then proceed to: Editorial Manager to submit your manuscript.

Authorship Criteria

Sultan Qaboos University Medical Journal (SQUMJ) adheres to the authorship criteria set forth by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). To qualify for authorship, contributors must meet all of the following four criteria:

1. Substantial Contributions: Authors must have made significant contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work.

2. Drafting and Revising: Authors must have contributed to drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content.

3. Final Approval: Authors must have given their final approval of the version to be published, ensuring that they are fully satisfied with the integrity and accuracy of the work.

4. Accountability: Authors must agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work, including ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Additional Considerations

• Non-Qualifying Contributions: Contributions that do not meet all four criteria, such as acquisition of funding, general supervision of a research group, or administrative support, do not justify authorship. Such contributions should be acknowledged in the manuscript.

• Group Authorship: For large multi-author collaborations, the group should identify individuals who accept direct responsibility for the manuscript. These individuals should meet all the criteria for authorship and should list their specific contributions.

• Corresponding Author: The corresponding author is responsible for the communication with the journal during the manuscript submission, peer review, and publication process. They ensure that all administrative requirements of the journal, such as providing details of authorship, ethics committee approval, clinical trial registration documentation, and gathering conflict of interest forms, are properly completed. They should be available throughout the submission and peer review process to respond to editorial queries in a timely way.

Authorship Disputes

In cases of authorship disputes, SQUMJ follows COPE guidelines for resolving conflicts. If disputes arise, the authors are encouraged to seek resolution among themselves, but if necessary, they may contact the SQUMJ Editorial Team for mediation.

Acknowledgments

Individuals who contributed to the work but do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in the Acknowledgments section. Their contributions may include technical support, writing assistance, or general support.

By adhering to these standards, SQUMJ ensures the integrity and credibility of the publication process, recognizing only those who have made meaningful contributions to the research and its dissemination.

 

SQUMJ is completely FREE OF CHARGE for both authors to publish and readers to access articles, thanks to full funding from our publisher, Sultan Qaboos University.