According to the guidelines for authorship established by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), ‘All persons designated as authors should qualify for authorship, and all those who qualify should be listed.’

To obtain authorship credit, a person must partake in ALL of the following four phases of research publication:

• (1) Substantial contribution to research conception or design, data acquisition, and analysis or interpretation.
• (2) Drafting or revising it for important intellectual content
• (3) Final review and approval before article submission and publication
• (4) Agreement to be accountable “for all aspects of the work” necessary to ensure that “questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.”

Individuals who are involved in a study but don’t satisfy the journal’s criteria for authorship, should be listed as ‘Acknowledgements’. Examples include: Intellectual (ideas, writing), Practical (conducting research, data analysis), and Financial (funds, experimental material).

Manuscripts authored by a large group would need to list not only the name of involved organizations but also the members who satisfy the four authorship criteria listed above.