A journal received an article submission from two authors. The paper went through several revisions over the course of a year, and was eventually accepted for publication. The authors were informed about acceptance and the paper was sent for copyediting. The editorial office subsequently sent the final version of the paper to the authors for proofreading.
On the same day, a request was received from the corresponding author to add two new authors to the paper. The corresponding author mentioned that he sustained an arm injury during the period and the two other authors helped him with the revisions and uploading of the paper.
The journal clearly states that requests for changes in authorship can only be considered before acceptance of the paper, and must be supported by various documents. It also states that the journal adheres to the ICMJE guidelines on authorship.
Questions for COPE Council
- Is it ethical for an author to request adding new authors at the proofreading stage of a paper?
- The journal received a letter that listed the contributions of the four authors, and another letter with the signatures of all four authors with the newly suggested addition. The last letter requested addition of one author, with the fourth author to be acknowledged. Is this acceptable?
- Can the editor reject the paper based on ethical considerations, and not on the content of the paper?
Advice on this case is from a small number of COPE Council Members. Most cases on the COPE website are presented to the COPE Forum where advice is offered by a wider group of COPE Members and COPE Council Members. Advice on individual cases is not formal COPE guidance.
If appropriate justification is given, it is not unethical to add a coauthor at the proofreading stage. COPE has a flowchart specifically for requests prior to article publication. All authors must agree to add new authors (which is true at any stage in the peer review process), and this has to be documented and explained.
If the journal follows the authorship guidelines of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), then someone who helps implement revisions and upload a manuscript would not appear to qualify for authorship.
According to the ICMJE, an author must meet all of the following four criteria:
1. Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; AND
2. Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content; AND
3. Final approval of the version to be published; AND
4. Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.
The authors need to convince the editor that these points were met by the additional authors. If the authors cannot present sufficient support for adding authors, COPE's discussion document on Authorship, among other resources, recommends the use of acknowledgements for people who make contributions to the work but do not meet the authorship criteria.
From the description provided, there are no concerns about the research, and we do not think the concerns here warrant a rejection. Instead, the editor should help educate these individuals about authorship criteria.