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Who Counts as an Author? CRediT and Authorship Explained

DE By Directive Editorial Team, Directive Publications ·17 Jul 2026 ·6 min read

In short: Authorship means both credit and accountability, so it is reserved for those who genuinely contributed. The widely used ICMJE criteria define who qualifies, ghost and gift authorship are unethical, and the CRediT taxonomy records exactly who did what.

Why authorship matters

Being an author brings credit — but also responsibility for the work's integrity. Getting authorship right is a matter of fairness and publication ethics: everyone who contributed substantially should be included, and no one who did not should be listed.

Who qualifies — the ICMJE criteria

The ICMJE recommends that an author meet all four of these criteria:

  1. Substantial contribution to the conception, design, data acquisition, or analysis/interpretation;
  2. Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content;
  3. Final approval of the version to be published;
  4. Agreement to be accountable for the work.

Everyone who meets these should be an author; everyone who does not, should not.

Contributors vs authors

People who helped but do not meet all the criteria — for example by providing funding, general supervision or materials, or technical help — should be named in the Acknowledgements, not listed as authors.

Ghost, guest and gift authorship

  • Ghost authorship — omitting someone who qualifies (often a professional writer).
  • Guest / gift authorship — adding someone who did not contribute, for prestige or as a favour.

All three misrepresent who did the work and are unethical. We do not permit them.

CRediT — recording contributions

The CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) is a standard set of 14 roles — such as conceptualisation, methodology, software, validation, formal analysis, investigation, data curation, and writing (original draft, review and editing) — used to state exactly what each contributor did. It adds transparency and gives fair, specific credit.

Changing authorship

Any change to the author list after submission — adding, removing or reordering — requires the written agreement of all authors and the editor's approval.

Key takeaways

  • Authors should meet all four ICMJE criteria — contribution, drafting, approval, accountability.
  • Other helpers belong in the acknowledgements, not the author list.
  • Ghost, guest and gift authorship are unethical.
  • CRediT records who did what; authorship changes need everyone's agreement.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who qualifies as an author?
Under the widely used ICMJE criteria, an author should have made a substantial contribution to the work, helped draft or critically revise it, approved the final version, and agreed to be accountable for it. Meeting all four criteria is the standard.
Does providing funding or supervision make someone an author?
Not on its own. Acquiring funding, general supervision, or providing materials does not, by itself, justify authorship. Such contributions belong in the acknowledgements unless the person also meets the authorship criteria.
What are ghost, guest and gift authorship?
Ghost authorship omits someone who qualifies (often a professional writer); guest or gift authorship adds someone who did not contribute (for prestige or favour). All three misrepresent who did the work and are unethical.
What is CRediT?
CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) is a standard list of 14 roles — such as conceptualisation, methodology, data curation and writing — used to describe exactly what each contributor did, adding transparency to the author list.
Can the author list change after submission?
Changes to authorship after submission require the written agreement of all authors and the editor's approval. Adding, removing or reordering authors is not done unilaterally.
DE
Directive Editorial Team
Directive Publications

The editorial team at Directive Publications — an international open-access publisher of peer-reviewed medical and scientific journals.

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