Responsibilities of the Corresponding Author

The corresponding author is the single point of contact between the author team and the journal. Only one author may serve as the corresponding author at a time.

4.1  Communication with the Journal

• Acts as the primary contact for all correspondence with the editorial office, from submission through to publication and afterwards.
• Acknowledges receipt of editorial correspondence promptly and responds within reasonable timeframes.
• Ensures that the contact information held by the journal remains current.

4.2  Coordination of Co-authors

• Confirms in writing that every named co-author meets the ICMJE authorship criteria.
• Confirms that the final submitted version has been read and approved by every co-author.
• Collects the signatures of all co-authors on the Author Contribution Form, the Author Declaration Form, and the Confirmation of Authorship Form.
• Ensures that the order of authors and the designation of the corresponding author have been agreed by all co-authors before submission.

4.3  Accuracy and Completeness of Disclosures

• Verifies the completeness and accuracy of the disclosures on the title page, including funding, conflicts of interest, ethics approval, informed consent, data availability, AI use, and prior dissemination.
• Ensures that every co-author has personally disclosed their own financial and non-financial conflicts of interest.

4.4  Stewardship of Underlying Data and Materials

• Holds the original data, the analysis code, the signed informed-consent forms, and any other primary records on behalf of the author team.
• Makes these records available to the editorial office, to peer reviewers (in anonymized form), and to other researchers, on reasonable request.

4.5  Response to Revisions and Queries

• Coordinates the response to reviewer comments, ensuring that every comment is addressed in the point-by-point response.
• Reviews the copy-edited proof and returns corrections within the agreed timeframe.

4.6  Continuity

If the corresponding author becomes unable to continue in that role, they must notify the editorial office in writing and propose a replacement corresponding author from among the existing co-authors. The change of corresponding author requires the written agreement of all co-authors and the written approval of the Editor-in-Chief.

4.7  Post-publication Responsibility

The corresponding author remains the primary contact for the published article in perpetuity. Where the corresponding author is no longer reachable, the remaining co-authors should designate a replacement and notify the journal in writing.