Authorship Changes and Inclusive Name Changes
Purpose and Scope
The SDEWES Journals Authorship Changes and Inclusive Name Changes Policy sets out the principles and procedures for handling changes to author lists, author order, corresponding authorship, author details and author names in manuscripts and published articles in journals published by SDEWES Centre.
This policy applies to all submitted, accepted and published manuscripts, including regular articles, review articles, special issue papers, article collections, conference-linked submissions and supplementary materials. It covers requests made during editorial assessment, peer review, production or after publication.
This policy distinguishes between:
- changes that affect authorship, author order, corresponding authorship or responsibility for the work;
- minor corrections to author details or metadata; and
- inclusive author name changes made for identity, privacy, personal or other reasons.
In this policy, the responsible editor means the Editor-in-Chief or another editor authorised by the journal to assess the request, provided that the person has no relevant competing interest.
Related guidance, statement templates, declaration forms and checklists relevant to this policy are listed in Appendix A: Related COPE and International Guidance and Appendix B: Practical Forms, Statements and Checklists.
General Principles
Authorship criteria, author responsibilities, author order, contribution statements, acknowledgements and unacceptable authorship practices are governed by [Authorship and Contributorship].
Authors should agree on the author list, author order, corresponding author and contributions before submission. The information provided at submission should be complete and accurate. Changes after submission are exceptional and require a clear explanation, appropriate documentation and editorial approval.
An authorship-change request does not automatically establish that the requested change is appropriate. The responsible editor must consider whether the revised author list remains consistent with the authorship criteria and whether the request raises a dispute, authorship manipulation or another publication-ethics concern.
Inclusive author name changes are identity and metadata updates rather than changes in authorship. They do not normally require co-author agreement and must not be handled as evidence of misconduct or as an ordinary authorship-change request.
Editorial handling, peer review, production or publication may be paused while a request is assessed. Where the proposed handler has an actual, potential or perceived competing interest, the interest must be disclosed and managed under [Competing Interests and Funding Disclosure], and independent handling must be arranged under [Editorial Independence].
Minor Corrections to Author Details
Minor corrections to author details may include typographical errors in names, missing diacritics, incorrect affiliations, ORCID iD corrections, email-address corrections or other metadata errors that do not change authorship, author order or responsibility for the work.
Such corrections may be requested directly from the journal editorial office and do not normally require the Authorship Change Request Form. The request should identify the manuscript or article, manuscript ID or DOI, the current information and the requested correction.
A change in an author’s employment or institutional affiliation after the work was completed or published is not normally treated as an error in the original affiliation. Where appropriate and technically possible, a current address may instead be added in accordance with the relevant journal’s practice.
Where a correction affects the published record, the journal will determine whether a correction notice is required under [Corrections, Retractions and Withdrawals]. Minor metadata corrections that do not affect authorship, interpretation, indexing or the integrity of the scholarly record may be made without a formal notice.
Changes to Authorship Before Acceptance
Before acceptance, a request may be submitted to add or remove an author, change author order, change the corresponding author or revise a shared-contribution designation.
The request must be submitted using the Authorship Change Request Form and must explain why the change is necessary. All authors, including any person being added or removed, should normally confirm their agreement in writing.
Where an author is added, that person’s contribution must be described, and the person must confirm that they meet the authorship criteria, approve the manuscript and accept the responsibilities established in [Authorship and Contributorship].
The responsible editor may approve the request, reject it, request clarification or pause handling while a dispute or possible ethics concern is assessed. A request that lacks agreement from all authors should not normally be approved unless the matter has been resolved through appropriate institutional or other independent documentation.
Changes After Acceptance and During Production
Requests made after acceptance are subject to greater scrutiny because the manuscript has completed editorial assessment and may already be in production.
A change may be considered where there is a documented error, a contribution change identified only after acceptance, an unresolved omission or another justified ethical or authorship reason. The request must follow the documentation and agreement requirements in Section 7.
Production or publication may be paused while the request is assessed. Where a change is approved, the journal may require an updated author contribution statement, declarations, copyright or licence information and publication metadata.
The article should not normally be published with an unresolved authorship dispute or an author list that the journal has reason to believe is inaccurate.
Changes After Publication
Changes to the author list, author order or corresponding authorship after publication are exceptional and may be considered where there is credible evidence that the published authorship record is inaccurate or incomplete.
The journal may require written agreement from all authors, updated contribution statements, relevant institutional documentation and updated declarations. Where the authors do not agree, the journal may defer amendment of the published record until the matter has been resolved by the authors or an appropriate institution or organisation.
An approved post-publication authorship change will normally require a correction or other appropriate notice under [Corrections, Retractions and Withdrawals]. The notice should explain the authorship amendment without disclosing unnecessary personal or confidential information.
Inclusive author name changes are handled separately under Sections 9 and 10 and do not normally require a correction notice.
Required Documentation and Author Agreement
Requests to add or remove an author, change author order, change the corresponding author or amend a shared-contribution designation must be submitted using the Authorship Change Request Form.
The request should normally be submitted by the corresponding author. Where the corresponding author is unavailable, directly involved in the dispute or unable to act independently, another author may submit the request.
The request must include:
- the journal name, manuscript or article title, manuscript ID or DOI and current publication stage;
- the current and proposed author lists;
- the specific change requested and a clear explanation;
- the contribution of any author being added and, where relevant, the reason an author is being removed;
- written confirmation from all authors, including any author being added or removed;
- an updated author contribution statement, where applicable; and
- updated declarations or information required under [Competing Interests and Funding Disclosure], [Research Ethics], [Research Data and Transparency], [Generative AI Policy] and [Copyright & Licensing], where the requested change affects them.
The journal may take proportionate steps to verify the identity of the persons providing confirmation. Incomplete requests should not be approved until the necessary information is provided. Where agreement cannot be obtained or the request raises a dispute or possible manipulation, it must be handled under Section 8.
Minor author-detail corrections and inclusive author name changes do not use the Authorship Change Request Form unless the request also changes authorship responsibility.
Authorship Disputes and Integrity Concerns
SDEWES Centre and journal editors do not normally adjudicate personal, institutional or employment-related disputes concerning entitlement to authorship or author order.
Where authors cannot agree, the journal may pause editorial handling, peer review, production or publication and request that the dispute be resolved by the authors or, where necessary, by the relevant institution or organisation.
The journal may nevertheless assess whether the submitted or published author record complies with [Authorship and Contributorship] and whether the request raises possible guest, gift, ghost, coercive, purchased or manipulated authorship. Such concerns may be assessed under [Publishing Ethics].
Where the published record is affected, any correction, expression of concern, retraction or other action must be considered under [Corrections, Retractions and Withdrawals]. Formal complaints or appeals concerning the journal’s handling of a request are assessed under [Editorial Decision Appeals and Complaints].
Personal information, correspondence and institutional documentation obtained during the assessment must be handled under [Privacy].
Inclusive Author Name Changes
Authors may request that their name and associated author metadata be updated in submitted, accepted or previously published articles. Such requests will be handled respectfully, discreetly and with due regard for privacy and personal safety.
A name change may be requested for any personal reason. Authors are not required to disclose the reason for the change, and the journal will not normally request legal documentation or other unnecessary personal evidence.
The journal may take reasonable and proportionate steps to confirm that the request is made by the relevant author, for example through existing contact details, an authenticated ORCID iD or another appropriate means. Identity verification must not require disclosure of the reason for the name change.
Inclusive name changes do not normally require confirmation or consent from co-authors. The author’s former name and the reason for the change must not be disclosed publicly or to co-authors unless the requesting author expressly asks for this or disclosure is strictly required by law.
The request should identify the relevant article or articles, including DOI where available, and state the name and associated metadata that should be updated. A single request may cover more than one article published by SDEWES journals.
A request that would substitute a different person, transfer authorship responsibility or otherwise change who performed or is accountable for the work is not an inclusive name change and must instead be assessed as an authorship-change request.
Privacy, Confidentiality and Metadata Updates
Inclusive author name changes will normally be implemented without a correction notice, expression of concern or other public editorial notice. A notice will be used only where requested by the author or where it is strictly necessary to protect the integrity of the publication record.
Co-authors will not normally be notified. Internal records concerning the request must be accessible only to individuals who need the information to verify or implement the change.
Where technically feasible, SDEWES Centre will update the article webpage, downloadable article files, supplementary materials, author metadata and internal publication records. It will also take reasonable steps to update metadata deposited with DOI registration agencies and supplied to relevant indexing and abstracting services.
Where a format, repository or third-party database cannot be updated, the author should be informed of the limitation. SDEWES Centre cannot guarantee that all third-party systems will implement or display updated metadata.
The former name, the reason for the change and unnecessary identity information should not be retained in publicly visible records. Confidential records necessary to document and implement the request must be handled in accordance with [Privacy].
Policy Review and Updates
SDEWES Centre may review and update this policy periodically to reflect developments in publication ethics, authorship standards, inclusive publishing, privacy, metadata management, research integrity and international standards.
Updated policies apply from the date of publication on the SDEWES Journals Policies website unless otherwise stated.
Appendix A. Related COPE and International Guidance
COPE Council. Handling changes to authorship lists
Provides overarching guidance for assessing requests to alter author lists and for checking authorship criteria, author agreement and possible authorship concerns.
COPE Council. COPE Flowcharts and infographics - Changes in authorship. Addition of extra author - before publication
Provides a step-by-step process for assessing a request to add an author before publication.
COPE Council. COPE Flowcharts and infographics - Changes in authorship. Removal of author - before publication
Provides a step-by-step process for assessing a request to remove an author before publication.
COPE Council. COPE Flowcharts and infographics - Changes in authorship. Addition of extra author - after publication
Provides guidance on author agreement, documentation and correction of the published record where an author is added after publication.
COPE Council. COPE Flowcharts and infographics - Changes in authorship. Removal of author - after publication
Provides guidance where removal of an author from a published article is requested.
COPE Council. COPE position - Handling requests for author name changes
Provides principles for confidential, inclusive and proportionate handling of name-change requests without unnecessary documentation, public notices or disclosure of previous identities.
Appendix B. Practical Forms, Statements and Checklists
The documents below provide practical support for formal authorship-change requests and confidential author name and metadata updates. Authorship disputes and broader authorship concerns are assessed using the documents listed in Appendix B of [Authorship and Contributorship].
Authorship Change Request Form
Required author request form – Used to request the addition or removal of an author, a change in author order or corresponding author, revision of a shared-contribution designation, or a post-publication authorship change. The form records the reason for the request, the proposed author list, contributions, relevant declaration updates and written confirmation from the affected authors.
Inclusive Author Name Change and Metadata Update Checklist for Editors
Internal editorial-office and publisher checklist – Used to verify the requester proportionately, protect confidentiality, avoid unnecessary legal documentation or co-author notification, update all feasible article versions and metadata records, and document technical limitations without recording unnecessary personal information.