Case Reports and Reviews: Open Access

Accurate attribution of authorship is fundamental to research accountability and the integrity of the scientific record. Case Reports and Reviews: Open Access assesses authorship in line with established international standards for scholarly publishing. The journal uses the ICMJE Recommendations as guidance when assessing authorship criteria. This reference does not imply formal membership or endorsement by the ICMJE.

Authorship Criteria

To qualify as an author, an individual should satisfy all four of the following conditions, consistent with internationally recognised authorship standards:

• Made a substantial contribution to the conception or design of the work, or to the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data
• Contributed to drafting the manuscript or critically revising it for important intellectual content
• Approved the final version of the manuscript for submission
• Agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work, including the accuracy and integrity of all parts

Individuals who do not fulfil all four criteria should be acknowledged in the Acknowledgements section rather than listed as authors.

Responsibilities of All Authors
All listed authors share collective responsibility for the integrity of the submitted and published work. Each author must be prepared to identify which co-authors were responsible for specific aspects of the work and to have confidence in the contributions of all co-authors.

Corresponding Author Responsibilities

The corresponding author acts as the primary contact between the editorial office and the author group, and is responsible for:

• Ensuring that all co-authors meet the journal's authorship criteria
• Obtaining written agreement from all co-authors prior to submission and at each revision stage
• Managing all communications with the editorial office on behalf of the author group
• Ensuring that all required declarations and ethical approvals are accurate and complete
• Notifying the editorial office of any required changes to authorship after submission

Acknowledgements
Individuals who contributed to the work but do not meet the criteria for authorship — including medical writers, language editors, technical assistants, and data collectors — should be acknowledged in a dedicated Acknowledgements section. The nature of each person's contribution should be described. Written permission from all acknowledged individuals is required prior to submission.

Unacceptable Authorship Practices
Guest Authorship
Guest authorship refers to the inclusion of an individual as an author solely on the basis of their status, seniority, or perceived influence, without any substantive intellectual contribution to the work. This practice is not acceptable.

Ghost Authorship
Ghost authorship refers to the deliberate omission of an individual who made a substantive intellectual contribution to the work. All such individuals must be listed as authors or, where appropriate, acknowledged. Ghost authorship undermines the integrity of the published record.

Honorary Authorship
Honorary or gift authorship — where an individual is listed as an author as a professional courtesy — is not acceptable. Authorship must reflect genuine intellectual contribution.

Contributor Statements
Authors are encouraged to include a Contributor Statement specifying each author's role. The journal recommends use of the CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) framework as a widely adopted standard for describing contributions, including conceptualisation, methodology, data curation, writing (original draft), writing (review and editing), supervision, and project administration. Contributor Statements are published alongside article metadata where provided.