Authorship

Authorship and contributions

Eligibility for Authorship

Cancer Biome and Targeted Therapy recognizes that modern research often involves diverse expertise and interdisciplinary collaboration. Therefore, the journal adopts a flexible but transparent authorship policy that upholds both ethical standards and inclusivity. To qualify for authorship, individuals must have made a substantial intellectual, technical, or conceptual contribution to at least one of the following:

  • Conception or design of the study
  • Acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data
  • Drafting significant sections of the manuscript or critically revising its content
  • Development or application of analytical tools, software, or methodologies
  • Oversight or leadership of the research project, including supervision and funding acquisition
  • In addition to making a meaningful contribution, all authors must:

Agree to be listed as authors and approve the final version of the manuscript before submission. Accept responsibility for their listed contributions and be willing to address questions/requests from editors. Disclose any conflicts of interest related to the work. Authors are not required to meet all traditional authorship criteria (such as revising the text or final approval of the entire manuscript) if their contributions are clearly defined and documented.

Contributor Role Transparency (CRediT Taxonomy)

To promote transparency, authors must specify their contributions using the CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) at the time of submission. These contributions will be published with the article. Any potential authorship disputes brought to the editors’ attention will be handled in line with COPE guidelines. 

Corresponding authors responsibilities

The corresponding author serves as the primary point of contact between the author group and the journal throughout the submission, peer review, and publication process. The corresponding author confirms that they are able and willing to act on behalf of all authors and to take responsibility for ensuring that all journal requirements are met. By submitting a manuscript, the corresponding author agrees to the following responsibilities:

Authorship Integrity

  • Ensure that all listed authors meet the journal’s authorship criteria.
  • Confirm that all authors have approved the final manuscript version, author order, and are aware of the submission.
  • Facilitate and distribute all editorial correspondence, including decisions and peer reviewer comments, to all co-authors.

Data and Materials 

  • The corresponding author must ensure that original data, figures, materials, and/or code used in the manuscript are preserved and are available for verification or reanalysis if requested.
  • The data, figures, and materials presented in the manuscript accurately reflect the raw data.
  • That any potential obstacles to the sharing of data, materials, or code described in the work (e.g., licensing, privacy, institutional policies) are identified and appropriately addressed before submission.

Compliance

  • Monitor compliance with ethical standards and discipline-specific best practices across the author group.
  • Ensure that all co-authors are informed of the journal’s editorial and publication policies, including data availability, conflict of interest disclosures, and funding declarations.
  • Serve as the point of responsibility for resolving any disputes or clarifications related to authorship, data use, or research integrity.

Non-Author Contributions

Individuals who contributed to the work but do not meet the authorship criteria, such as administrative support, technical assistance, or general supervision, should be acknowledged in an Acknowledgments section with their permission.

Changes to authorship

The list of authors submitted with the initial manuscript is generally considered final for the duration of the peer review process. Changes to authorship, including additions, removals, or reordering, are not permitted except under well-justified circumstances (e.g., administrative oversight, changes during the revision stage, or resolution of an authorship dispute). 

In such exceptional cases, the corresponding author must contact the Editorial Office before the final editorial decision, providing a detailed explanation of the request and written consent from all existing and proposed authors. Approval of any authorship change is at the sole discretion of the Editors.

If a request for authorship changes is approved by the journal's editorial team after publication, a corrigendum will be issued to reflect the revision. Unauthorized changes to authorship introduced in the proofs stage may lead to the rejection of the manuscript or, if already published, to the retraction of the article.

Last updated: August 2025