Authorship Criteria and Contributions Policy

UltimaComm : Jurnal Ilmu Komunikasi

1. General Principles

UltimaComm: Jurnal Ilmu Komunikasi requires authorship to reflect genuine scholarly contributions to the conception, conduct, analysis, interpretation, and reporting of research. Authorship confers academic credit and entails responsibility for the integrity, accuracy, and originality of the published work.
All individuals listed as authors must meet the journal's authorship criteria. Individuals who contribute to a manuscript but do not meet these criteria must not be listed as authors; their contributions may instead be acknowledged appropriately.
Authorship must not be determined solely by academic rank, professional seniority, institutional position, employment relationship, funding, or supervisory authority.

2. Eligible Authorship

An individual qualifies for authorship only when all the following conditions are satisfied:

• Substantive scholarly contribution: The individual has made a substantial contribution to the conception or design of the study, data acquisition, data analysis, interpretation of findings, or development of the theoretical or conceptual framework.
• Intellectual contribution to the manuscript: The individual has participated in drafting the manuscript or critically reviewing it for significant intellectual content.
• Final approval: The individual has reviewed and approved the final version submitted for publication.
• Accountability: The individual agrees to be accountable for their own contribution and to contribute to the resolution of questions concerning the accuracy or integrity of the work as a whole.

All four conditions must be met. Contributors who meet the first condition must be given a fair opportunity to participate in manuscript development, critical review, and final approval rather than being excluded from authorship by being denied that opportunity.

3. Ineligible Authorship and Non-Author Contributions

The following activities, when performed alone, do not qualify an individual for authorship:

• Obtaining research funding or providing financial support.
• Holding a senior academic, managerial, or institutional position.
• Supervising students or researchers without making a substantive intellectual contribution to the specific manuscript.
• Providing general administrative, logistical, or technical assistance.
• Collecting data or recruiting participants without substantial intellectual involvement in the study.
• Providing language editing, proofreading, formatting, or reference-management assistance.
• Offering general advice, attending research meetings, or providing routine feedback without substantive intellectual engagement.
• Providing access to research sites, organizational contacts, participants, or institutional resources without qualifying scholarly contributions.

Such contributions may be acknowledged in the manuscript, with the individual's permission, where appropriate. A contributor who initially performs a non-author role may qualify for authorship if their subsequent contributions satisfy all the criteria in Section 2.

4. Unethical Authorship Practices

UltimaComm considers the following practices unacceptable:

• Guest or honorary authorship: Listing an individual who has not made a qualifying scholarly contribution, including an academic supervisor, institutional leader, senior scholar, or funder, merely because of their status or relationship with the research team.
• Gift authorship: Adding a colleague, friend, or other individual as an author in exchange for a favour, professional courtesy, reciprocal authorship, or other benefit unrelated to qualifying scholarly contributions.
• Ghost authorship: Omitting an individual who has made a substantial qualifying contribution, or concealing a contributor's involvement in a manner that misrepresents responsibility for the work.
• Authorship-for-position or authorship-for-funding: Granting authorship solely because an individual provided funding, institutional facilities, access, or administrative authorization.
• Coercive authorship: Requiring an individual to be listed as an author, or pressuring researchers to include or exclude an author, without a legitimate basis in the authorship criteria.
• Unjustified exclusion: Excluding a contributor who satisfies the authorship criteria, including a junior researcher or local collaborator, from appropriate authorship recognition.
• Misrepresentation of contributions: Falsely claiming to have designed the study, collected or analysed data, developed the argument, or written or critically reviewed the manuscript.
• Unapproved authorship changes: Adding, removing, or reordering authors without appropriate agreement among the affected authors.

Such practices may constitute authorship misconduct and may lead to editorial action in accordance with the journal's Publication Ethics and Research Misconduct policies.

5. First Author and Order of Authorship

The first author is ordinarily the individual who has made the leading substantive intellectual contribution to the study and manuscript. This may include developing the research question, conducting the principal analysis, interpreting the findings, and leading manuscript preparation.
The order of authorship must be discussed and agreed upon by all authors before submission. It should reflect the nature and extent of each author's contribution, taking into account disciplinary conventions and the circumstances of the research.
First authorship does not automatically confer sole ownership of the research, exclusive responsibility for every component, or authority to determine authorship unilaterally. Where equal contributions are claimed, the authors should explicitly indicate this in the manuscript if the journal's publication system permits such a statement.

6. Corresponding Author

The corresponding author serves as the principal point of contact between the author group and UltimaComm throughout submission, peer review, editorial processing, and publication.
The corresponding author is responsible for:

• Submitting the manuscript on behalf of the author group and providing accurate information about all authors.
• Confirming that all listed authors meet the authorship criteria and have approved the submitted version.
• Obtaining agreement on the order of authorship and ensuring that authorship and contribution declarations are accurate.
• Coordinating the submission of required documents, declarations, ethical approvals where applicable, funding information, conflict-of-interest disclosures, and other editorial requirements.
• Communicating editorial decisions and requests to all co-authors and coordinating their responses.
• Ensuring that all authors have an opportunity to review and approve the final manuscript.
• Responding to post-publication questions and cooperating with the journal in addressing concerns about the article's accuracy or integrity.

Designation as corresponding author is an administrative and accountability role; it does not, by itself, establish eligibility for authorship or imply that the individual made the greatest scholarly contribution.
The corresponding author must not submit a manuscript without the knowledge and approval of all listed authors.

7. Co-Authors

Every co-author must meet all the authorship criteria in Section 2. Co-authors are expected to:

• Make a substantive and identifiable scholarly contribution.
• Participate in drafting or critically reviewing the manuscript.
• Approve the final version before submission.
• Disclose relevant conflicts of interest and other required information.
• Take responsibility for the integrity of their contributions and cooperate in addressing questions about the work.
• Maintain appropriate communication with the corresponding author and other co-authors.

All authors should be able to identify their respective contributions and understand the contributions made by their co-authors. The corresponding author coordinates communication, but responsibility for the integrity of the publication is shared by all authors.

8. Author Contributions Statement

UltimaComm encourages or may require an Author Contributions Statement to clarify the specific roles of individual authors. Depending on the nature of the study, contributions may include conceptualization, methodology, data collection, formal analysis, interpretation, investigation, writing of the original draft, critical review and editing, supervision, and project administration.
The statement must accurately reflect the work performed. A contribution label does not automatically establish authorship eligibility; each listed author must still satisfy all criteria in Section 2.

9. Authorship Disputes and Changes

Authorship, including the order of authors, should be discussed and agreed upon before manuscript submission.
Requests to add, remove, or reorder authors after submission must include a written explanation and documented agreement from all affected authors and all other listed authors. The journal may suspend editorial processing while the request is assessed.
The journal does not ordinarily adjudicate disputes over the relative contributions of researchers. Where authorship eligibility or ownership of contributions cannot be resolved by the author group, the journal may refer the matter to the relevant institution or research organization for investigation.
If concerns arise after publication, the journal will assess the available evidence and take appropriate action in accordance with its Publication Ethics and Research Misconduct policies.

10. Use of Artificial Intelligence

Artificial intelligence tools, including generative AI systems, cannot be listed as authors or co-authors because they cannot assume human accountability for the work.
Authors remain responsible for the accuracy, originality, proper attribution, and integrity of all submitted material, including material produced with AI assistance. Use of AI must be disclosed in accordance with the journal's applicable AI policy and author guidelines.

11. Editorial Assessment

UltimaComm may request clarification of authorship, individual contributions, or authorship changes when concerns arise during editorial assessment.
The journal's editorial team may investigate credible indications of honorary, ghost, coercive, or otherwise inappropriate authorship. Editorial action will be proportionate to the evidence and consistent with the journal's publication ethics procedures.
Responsibility for identifying the appropriate authors and agreeing on their order rests primarily with the author group. Acceptance of a manuscript does not exempt authors from accountability for the accuracy of their authorship declarations.