AG-R05: ICMJE Authorship and Contributorship — Criteria, CRediT Roles, and Ethical Standards for GMJ

The Four Authorship Criteria, Contributor Roles Taxonomy, and Prevention of Ghost and Gift Authorship

Abstract

The GMJ Author Toolkit (AG-R05) provides a structured, self-contained guide to authorship and contributorship in accordance with the Georgian Medical Journal’s submission standards and international publication ethics frameworks. The guide ensures transparency, accountability, and compliance with ICMJE and COPE principles.

The document is organized into three components: (1) theoretical foundations explaining the four ICMJE authorship criteria that must be met by all listed authors, alongside definitions of ghost, gift, and coercive authorship; (2) a comprehensive pre-submission checklist ensuring correct author identification, role assignment, and documentation; and (3) complete worked examples demonstrating the use of the CRediT taxonomy for author contributions and a structured decision-making process for borderline contributors.

Particular emphasis is placed on the requirement that every author must meet all four ICMJE criteria simultaneously, and that each author must be assigned at least one CRediT role. The guide also highlights common ethical violations such as inappropriate inclusion or exclusion of contributors, lack of accountability, and failure to document contributions.

This resource supports authors in producing ethically compliant, transparent, and publication-ready authorship statements for submission to the Georgian Medical Journal.