International Committee of Medical Journals Editors (ICMJE)
The ICMJE recommends that authorship be based on the following 4 criteria:
Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; AND
Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content; AND
Final approval of the version to be published; AND
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.
International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. Recommendations for conduct, reporting, editing, and publication of scholarly work in medical journals.
Uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals: Writing and editing for biomedical publication. (2010). Journal of pharmacology & pharmacotherapeutics, 1(1), 42–58.
Rennie D, Yank V, Emanuel L. When Authorship Fails: A Proposal to Make Contributors Accountable. JAMA. 1997;278(7):579–585. doi:10.1001/jama.1997.03550070071041
Flanagin A, Carey LA, Fontanarosa PB, et al. Prevalence of Articles With Honorary Authors and Ghost Authors in Peer-Reviewed Medical Journals. JAMA. 1998;280(3):222–224. doi:10.1001/jama.280.3.222
