Each author should make a significant intellectual or practical contribution to the work and should be able to explain and defend the work.
Authorship may justified if a person plays an important role in:
- the design and execution of an important part of the work
- the analysis of the data
- the interpretation of the results
- the preparation of a draft of the manuscript
Authorship is not justified if a person simply:
- provided funding without playing other major roles in the project
- served as a group leader without playing other major roles in the project
- provided space or instruments for the project
- provided technical assistance
- performed services for a fee
The contributions of someone who is not an author but played one of these roles should be acknowledged in the manuscript.