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- Authors have complete autonomy to change the author byline.
- Cochrane adheres to the Committee for Publication Ethics (COPE) guidance, which says all authors should confirm they agree with changes to the byline in writing.
- Agreement is recorded through signatures on a Changes of Authorship form, available to download from within our Authorship policy.
- Authors will need to complete the form and collect signatures from previous and current authors to show they have agreed to this change.
- It is the authors' responsibility to confirm all authors agree with changes. Cochrane cannot mediate in authorship disputes.
Post-publication
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, including during authoring phase
- Cochrane authors must complete a signed Changes of Authorship form when they add, remove, or re-order authors on their byline. This applies after publication and to reviews or updates, whose authorship has changed since the previous published protocol or review version, respectively.
- Requests to change bylines before submission, can go to Cochrane groups or to Cochrane Support.
- If changes are made before submission, authors should submit a completed Changes of Authorship form for editorial assessment with their next submission.
- The only point at which written agreement is not required for byline changes, is before the first submission of a draft protocol (at this point, there is neither a submission or publication on record).
Pre-publication
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after submission
- Authors requesting a change in authorship (modify the order, remove, or add an author) after they have submitted their article must send a completed Changes in Authorship form to the editor handling their article.
- Requests to change bylines after submission, should go to the Managing Editor.
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