Suspicion of the existence of anonymous, guest or gifted authorship

There are three alternatives to proceed:

  1. Review the acknowledgements and authorship statement (if provided)
  2. Send a copy of the journal's authorship policy to the author responsible for the article and request a statement that all authors meet the criteria and no authors have been excluded (if such information has not been obtained previously)
  3. Request information (or more details) about each individual's contributions

All of the above caused by different situations presented below:

  • Some authorship role is missing (e.g., the list of contributors does not include anyone who analyzed the data or wrote the first draft). In this case: An anonymous author is identified. Propose that the excluded author be included
  • Nominal authors do not meet the authorship criteria. Then: A guest author or gifted author is identified. Propose that a guest or gift author be excluded or moved to the Acknowledgements section

After these first moments, then:

  1. Proceed to obtain written approval from all authors to change authorship. The letter should clearly state the journal's policy on authorship and/or refer to published criteria (e.g., those of CIERM (International Committee of Medical Journal Editors; ICMJE), and may convey concern or disappointment that these criteria have not been met
  2. With respect to authors of higher academic or professional standing, consider sending a copy of the letter to the head of the department or the person responsible for the proper management of the research activity

Subsequently proceed with the review or publication:

  1. A satisfactory explanation of the list of authors is received. Review or publication is then proceeded with
  2. If there is any doubt or more information is required, then: Attempt to contact the authors and ask them what their role has been, if any authors have been excluded and if they have any doubts about the authorship of the article

Note: All of the above requires the editorial team to review the instructions for contributors and the original submission templates that the journal uses, to ensure that they provide transparent guidelines and to avoid problems in the future.