Authorship Criteria

Authorship Criteria – Communicator Sphere

Communicator Sphere is an academic open‑access journal published by Universitas Bhayangkara Surabaya (established March 2021, semiannual issues in June and December). As a single‑blind peer‑reviewed journal, it focuses on communication studies with broad, multi‑perspective and interdisciplinary scopes, serving communication specialists, policymakers, and practitioners.

The journal is committed to transparency, accountability, fairness, and appropriate recognition of contributions to scholarly work. This policy is developed with reference to the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), the Contributor Roles Taxonomy (CRediT), and established international publishing ethics practices, including those adopted by Elsevier, consistent with the journal’s Publication Ethics statement.

1. Authorship Requirements

Authorship should be limited to individuals who have made genuine and significant scholarly contributions to the research and/or preparation of the manuscript. Individuals listed as authors are expected to:

  • Make a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, analysis, interpretation, or preparation of the work;

  • Review and approve the manuscript submitted to Communicator Sphere and its final version for publication; and

  • Accept responsibility and accountability for their respective contributions and the integrity of the published work.

All individuals who qualify for authorship should be appropriately included, while individuals who do not qualify for authorship should not be listed as authors.

Academic position, seniority, institutional authority, professional relationship, or reputation alone does not justify authorship.

2. Author Contributions and CRediT

Communicator Sphere encourages every manuscript to include an Author Contributions Statement describing the individual contributions of all authors using the CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) framework.

CRediT provides a standardised way to describe contributions to scholarly work. The taxonomy consists of the following 14 contributor roles:

  • Conceptualization – Ideas; formulation or evolution of overarching research goals and aims.

  • Methodology – Development or design of methodology; creation of models.

  • Software – Programming, software development, implementation of computer code and supporting algorithms, or testing of existing code components.

  • Validation – Verification of the reproducibility or validity of results, experiments, or other research outputs.

  • Formal Analysis – Application of statistical, mathematical, computational, or other formal techniques to analyse or synthesise research data.

  • Investigation – Conducting the research process, experiments, or data/evidence collection.

  • Resources – Provision of study materials, instrumentation, facilities, samples, computing resources, or other research resources.

  • Data Curation – Management, organisation, annotation, maintenance, and preservation of research data for initial and later use.

  • Writing – Original Draft – Preparation and creation of the initial manuscript.

  • Writing – Review & Editing – Critical review, commentary, revision, or editing of the manuscript.

  • Visualization – Preparation, creation, and presentation of data or research findings in visual forms.

  • Supervision – Oversight, leadership, and mentorship related to the planning and execution of the research.

  • Project Administration – Management and coordination of the research activity.

  • Funding Acquisition – Acquisition of financial support for the research project.

An author may be assigned more than one CRediT role, and the same role may be assigned to more than one author where appropriate. Only roles actually performed by a contributor should be reported.

CRediT is used to describe who contributed to the work and in what capacity. Assignment of a CRediT role does not, by itself, determine whether an individual qualifies for authorship.

The Author Contributions Statement should be included in the manuscript (e.g., in the acknowledgements or a separate section) and, if the manuscript is accepted, it may be published as part of the final article.

Example:
Author 1: Conceptualization, Methodology, Investigation, Formal analysis, Writing – original draft; Author 2: Supervision, Validation, Resources, Writing – review & editing.

3. Corresponding Author and Mandatory Authorship Declaration

The Corresponding Author serves as the primary contact between the authors and Communicator Sphere throughout the submission, peer‑review, publication, and post‑publication processes.

The Corresponding Author is responsible for ensuring that:

  • All listed authors qualify for authorship;

  • No qualifying author has been omitted and no inappropriate author has been included;

  • All authors have reviewed and approved the submitted manuscript;

  • All authors have agreed to the author list and author order;

  • The CRediT contribution statement accurately represents the contributions of all authors and has been agreed upon by them; and

  • All relevant declarations and information submitted to Communicator Sphere are complete and accurate.

4. Author Order and Authorship Changes

The author list and author order must be determined and agreed upon by all authors before manuscript submission. Communicator Sphere does not determine author order on behalf of the authors.

Any request to add, remove, rearrange, or otherwise change authorship after submission will only be considered when a valid reason is provided.

Communicator Sphere generally does not permit changes in authorship after a manuscript has been accepted for publication, except where necessary to correct a substantiated authorship error or address a publication‑ethics or research‑integrity issue.

If an authorship change is approved after publication, the scholarly record will be updated transparently through an appropriate Correction or other post‑publication notice.

5. Non‑Author Contributors and Inappropriate Authorship

Individuals who contributed to the research or manuscript but do not qualify for authorship should not be included in the author list. Where appropriate, their contributions may instead be recognised in the Acknowledgement section.

Communicator Sphere does not permit inappropriate or misleading authorship practices, including:

  • Guest or Gift Authorship – including an individual as an author despite the absence of a qualifying scholarly contribution.

  • Honorary Authorship – granting authorship primarily because of seniority, academic position, authority, reputation, or institutional relationship rather than a genuine scholarly contribution.

  • Ghost Authorship – omitting an individual who made a contribution that qualifies for authorship or concealing a substantial contribution to the research or manuscript.

The sale, purchase, exchange, transfer, or assignment of authorship without genuine scholarly contribution is also prohibited.

6. Authorship Disputes and Misconduct

Authors are expected to resolve questions concerning authorship, author order, and contributions before submitting the manuscript.

Where an authorship dispute arises during editorial processing, Communicator Sphere may suspend the manuscript process while the matter is clarified. The Editorial Team may request statements from the authors, CRediT contribution information, supporting documentation, or clarification from the relevant institution(s).

Communicator Sphere editors may assess compliance with the journal’s authorship policy but are not normally responsible for adjudicating disputes concerning the relative contributions of individual researchers. Where the authors cannot resolve a substantive dispute, the journal may refer the matter to the relevant institution(s) or research‑integrity body.

Suspected guest, gift, honorary, ghost, or otherwise inappropriate authorship will be handled in accordance with relevant COPE guidance. Where necessary to protect the integrity of the scholarly record, Communicator Sphere may take appropriate editorial or post‑publication action, including correction or retraction.

7. Artificial Intelligence and Authorship

Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI), Large Language Models (LLMs), chatbots, and other AI‑assisted technologies cannot be listed as authors or co‑authors because they cannot assume responsibility and accountability for scholarly work.

Human authors remain responsible for all content submitted to and published by Communicator Sphere, including content developed with the assistance of AI or other assistive technologies.

Any use of AI or AI‑assisted technologies must comply with the journal’s separate policy on Generative AI and the applicable disclosure requirements.