Authorship guidelines

Authorship policies for Sage journals

At Sage, we follow the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) principles of authorship to ensure fair and transparent credit for all authors involved in the research. Here are some key guidelines to consider when submitting your manuscript to a Sage journal:

Criteria for authorship

All listed authors must meet the following criteria:

• Made a significant contribution to the concept, design, acquisition, analysis or interpretation of data
• Drafted the article or revised it critically for important intellectual content
• Approved the final version of the article for publication
• Agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work and resolved any issues related to its accuracy or integrity

Note: Requirements 2 and 3 should not disqualify those who have made substantial contributions to the research. Please refer to individual journal requirements for authorship by reviewing the submission guidelines. Some Sage journals use CRedIT taxonomy to provide greater transparency to individual contributions to the research.

Author roles

The author who submits the manuscript to the journal submission system becomes the “submitting author” and is responsible for adding appropriate authors who meet the criteria and providing accurate contact and affiliation information for all listed authors. In some cases, the submitting author can designate a co-author as corresponding author with their consent. The corresponding author assumes responsibility for the publication and is the main point of contact after publication.

Group authorship

Sage supports groups of authors such as those participating in a working group or consortia within our publications. We ask that groups be highlighted on the title page and that group members who can take responsibility for the work as authors are listed clearly. Those who form part of the group but do not fulfil authorship criteria may be listed in the acknowledgements section.

Author affiliations

The primary affiliation for each listed author should be where the research was conducted. If an author moved during the period of research, the institution where most of the work was conducted must be listed. If an author wishes to list their current affiliation in the published article, this can be facilitated by adding a note on the article. The author group must ensure that the affiliations are accurate as they cannot be changed post-publication.

Authorship changes

Any subsequent changes to the author list, addition or deletion of authors, and/or changes to the corresponding author must be approved by all listed authors by completion of the authorship change form. Incomplete forms will be returned to the author, and inappropriate reasons for authorship changes may result in rejection of the submission. Sage does not permit changes to authorship of any kind after the acceptance of a submission.

Deceased and incapacitated authors

If a co-author dies prior to submission or during peer-review and the remaining authors agree to retain their contribution to the author byline, the remaining authors must seek approval from the deceased next of kin or a legal representative for publication. If the deceased author was the sole author of a submission, the Journal Editor and Sage will seek permission from next of kin of legal representative for publication.

If a co-author becomes unwell or incapacitated during the peer-review process such that they are unable to provide final approval for publication, Sage will make efforts to contact their next of kin for approval or place the submission on hold until the co-author is able to approve the publication. If the author group and Sage are unable to reach the co-author or their next of kin, we may choose to place their name within the Acknowledgements section.

Authorship disputes

If a Sage journal becomes aware of an authorship dispute during peer-review, the submission will be placed on hold until the dispute has been resolved. If the dispute remains unresolved, the journal staff may choose to return the manuscript to authors and inform the institution. If Sage becomes aware of an authorship dispute after publication of an article, we will refer the matter to the attention of the institution where the research was conducted or the listed institution of the corresponding author for investigation. Sage or any of its journals are not in a position to adjudicate any authorship disputes raised at any stage of the publication process.

How to request author name changes

At Sage, we recognize that author names and pronouns may change over time. If you need to update your name and/or pronouns on a submitted manuscript, we are here to help.

Submitting your request

To request a name and/or pronoun change, please complete the form below and provide the following information:

• Your request for the name and pronoun change
• DOIs of the manuscript(s) in question
• Confirmation for Sage to contact co-authors (optional)

Once you have completed the form, it will be sent to a dedicated inbox managed by no more than two or three employees at any given time for confidentiality and security.

Reviewing and approving article proofs

After receiving the request, we aim to prepare the revised proof of the article within 5-7 business days. If we do not have editable files, such as for older articles, this process may take longer. We will send the author a proof with the requested changes and ask them to review and approve it before publication.

Redelivery to databases

Once the corrected article is republished, it will be redelivered to indexing and abstracting databases used by the journal. Any PubMed entries will be updated manually by Sage. Please note that while we will redeliver the article, databases may vary in whether or how quickly they make the change on their end. Authors may also wish to update references as they appear in reference databases such as Mendeley and Web of Science.

We are committed to implementing these updates promptly and confidentially, recognizing the sensitivity of these requests. If you have any questions or concerns about our author name change policy, please do not hesitate to reach out to us.

For more information on authorship guidelines and criteria for individual journals, please refer to the submission guidelines for each journal.

To request a name and/or pronoun change, please fill out the form below with your request, the DOIs of the manuscript(s) in question, and confirmation as to whether or not you permit Sage to contact the co-authors to inform them of the change. The completed form will be sent to a dedicated inbox, which is accessed and managed by no more than two or three employees at any given time. The author will be sent a proof with the changes and asked to review and approve it before publication. We are committed to implementing the updates promptly and confidentially, in recognition of the potentially sensitive nature of these requests.

We aim to prepare the revised proof of the article within 5-7 business days. This may take longer in cases where we do not have editable files, such as for older articles.

Once your corrected article has been republished, it will also be redelivered to indexing and abstracting databases (see the journal's website > Journal Information > Abstracting/Indexing for the specific abstracting/indexing databases used by the journal). Any PubMed entries will be updated manually by Sage. Please note that while Sage will redeliver the article, databases may vary in whether or how quickly they make the change on their end. Authors may also wish to update references as they appear in reference databases such as Mendeley and Web of Science.

Please note: Only name changes (eg, change in first name or surname) should be processed through this form. Errors in an author name (misspellings, missing/incorrect middle initial, missing/incorrect degrees, etc.) must be submitted as a postpublication correction request to the journal's Production staff or to author.services@sagepub.co.uk and will not be processed through this form.