Author Guidelines

Scholarly Contribution • Transparency • Accountability

Authorship and Contributorship Policy

Sinergi International Journal of Logistics requires authorship to accurately reflect substantial scholarly contributions to research in logistics, transportation, supply chain management, procurement, freight and distribution, warehousing, inventory management, maritime and multimodal logistics, urban mobility, logistics technology, supply-chain resilience, sustainable logistics, and related fields.

SUBSTANTIAL CONTRIBUTION CRediT TAXONOMY FULL ACCOUNTABILITY

Authorship represents both academic credit and responsibility. A person should be listed as an author only when they have made a meaningful intellectual contribution to the research and accept responsibility for the integrity, accuracy, transparency, reproducibility, technical validity, and scholarly quality of the published work.

1. Criteria for Authorship

All listed authors must demonstrate substantial scholarly involvement in the study. Authorship should normally include all of the following:

1	Substantial Research Contribution Significant contribution to the logistics or supply-chain research problem, conceptual framework, network or route design, transportation analysis, warehouse or inventory study, procurement analysis, supply-chain modeling, freight analysis, logistics-system assessment, data collection, simulation, optimization, statistical analysis, forecasting, or interpretation of findings.
2	Intellectual Contribution to the Manuscript Active participation in drafting the manuscript or critically revising its logistics theory, supply-chain framework, transportation methodology, optimization approach, operational analysis, resilience interpretation, sustainability implications, discussion, or scholarly contribution.
3	Final Approval Review and approval of the final manuscript, including the accuracy of author names, affiliations, logistics datasets, route or network assumptions, inventory variables, transportation indicators, model parameters, simulation outputs, operational findings, declarations, and references.
4	Accountability Agreement to take responsibility for the author's contribution and to cooperate in resolving questions concerning logistics data, supply-chain records, optimization models, route analysis, simulations, forecasts, software, operational assumptions, research integrity, authorship, or other aspects of the published work.

Activities That Do Not Alone Qualify for Authorship

The following activities, when performed alone, are generally insufficient to justify authorship:

• Providing research funding only	• Providing access to companies, ports, warehouses, carriers, fleets, supply-chain records, or logistics datasets only
• General academic, operational, or administrative supervision	• Holding a logistics, transportation, supply-chain, port, warehouse, executive, institutional, or managerial position
• Routine data extraction, shipment tracking, inventory recording, route logging, or clerical assistance	• Language editing, proofreading, translation, or formatting only
• Providing vehicles, warehouse facilities, tracking systems, optimization software, GPS devices, or operational resources only	• General encouragement, networking, or mentorship without scholarly contribution

Individuals providing these forms of assistance may be recognized in the Acknowledgments section, subject to their permission where appropriate.

2. Author Contribution Statement – CRediT

Every accepted manuscript must include an Author Contribution Statement. Authors are encouraged to use the CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) to identify each author's contribution transparently.

Conceptualization Development of logistics research ideas, supply-chain questions, transportation problems, routing concepts, inventory hypotheses, resilience issues, procurement models, or sustainable-logistics frameworks.	Methodology Development or design of optimization, simulation, forecasting, network-analysis, survey, case-study, quantitative, qualitative, mixed-methods, transportation, or supply-chain research methods.
Formal Analysis Statistical, optimization, routing, network, inventory, transportation, procurement, freight, forecasting, simulation, cost, resilience, sustainability, or other logistics analytical work.	Investigation Conducting warehouse studies, transportation observations, shipment analysis, logistics surveys, interviews, port or terminal studies, supply-chain assessments, route studies, or empirical data collection.
Data Curation Collecting, cleaning, coding, integrating, organizing, documenting, or maintaining shipment, inventory, warehouse, procurement, transportation, route, vehicle, port, customer, or supply-chain datasets.	Software Programming, optimization coding, simulation, route-planning systems, transportation modeling, forecasting, GIS processing, data pipelines, or development of logistics analytical tools.
Validation Verification of logistics datasets, optimization results, route solutions, simulation outputs, forecasting models, inventory calculations, network assumptions, operational indicators, or research outputs.	Visualization Preparation of network diagrams, route maps, supply-chain models, warehouse layouts, dashboards, process flows, transportation figures, performance charts, or data visualizations.
Writing – Original Draft Preparation of the initial scholarly manuscript.	Writing – Review & Editing Critical intellectual review and substantive manuscript revision.
Resources Provision of essential logistics datasets, fleet information, warehouse records, transport documents, software, GPS data, operational access, or other resources combined with scholarly contribution.	Supervision Intellectual oversight and scholarly guidance of the research process.
Project Administration Coordination and management of research activities.	Funding Acquisition Acquisition of financial support for the research project.

Note: Assignment of a CRediT role does not automatically qualify an individual for authorship. The individual must also satisfy the journal's authorship requirements and accept accountability.

3. Example of Author Contribution Statement

Example – Logistics Optimization / Transportation Research

Author Contributions: A.B.: Conceptualization, Methodology, Formal Analysis, Software, Writing – Original Draft. C.D.: Data Curation, Investigation, Validation, Visualization. E.F.: Supervision, Writing – Review & Editing. All authors approved the final manuscript and agreed to be accountable for their contributions.

Example – Supply Chain / Warehouse / Logistics Case Research

Author Contributions: A.B.: Conceptualization, Investigation, Methodology, Writing – Original Draft. C.D.: Investigation, Data Curation, Formal Analysis. E.F.: Validation, Supervision, Writing – Review & Editing. All authors reviewed and approved the final manuscript.

4. Author Order

Author order must be determined and agreed upon collectively by the author group before manuscript submission. The journal does not assign or determine author order.

The authorship list and order must be consistent across the submitted manuscript, OJS metadata, Author Contribution Statement, declarations, data/software/model documentation where applicable, and final published article.

5. Corresponding Author

One author must be identified as the corresponding author and serve as the primary contact between the journal and all co-authors.

✓ Ensures all authors approve manuscript submission	✓ Verifies author names, affiliations, email, and ORCID information
✓ Coordinates responses to reviewers	✓ Ensures all authors approve substantive revisions
✓ Verifies funding, operational-data permissions, and Conflict of Interest Statements	✓ Coordinates Data, Software, Model, Simulation, GIS, or Supplementary Material Availability where applicable
✓ Coordinates final proof approval	✓ Responds to post-publication methodological, technical, or research-integrity inquiries when necessary

6. Unacceptable Authorship Practices

✕ Guest / Honorary Authorship Adding senior academics, logistics executives, supply-chain directors, port officials, warehouse managers, transportation managers, institutional leaders, or respected individuals who did not make sufficient scholarly contributions.	✕ Ghost Authorship Excluding individuals who made substantial contributions to logistics-system design, optimization modeling, simulation, transportation analysis, supply-chain assessment, data analysis, or manuscript preparation that qualify for authorship.
✕ Gift / Reciprocal Authorship Exchanging or granting authorship without genuine scholarly contribution.	✕ Purchased Authorship Buying, selling, or transferring authorship positions.
✕ Coercive Authorship Requiring inclusion because of supervisory, corporate, logistics, transportation, port, institutional, managerial, or professional authority.	✕ Unauthorized Authorship Listing a person without their knowledge and approval.

7. Changes to Authorship

Addition, removal, or rearrangement of authors after submission must be exceptional and supported by a clear explanation and written consent from all affected authors.

BEFORE ACCEPTANCE
May be considered with full written agreement

AFTER ACCEPTANCE
Exceptional and subject to editorial approval

AFTER PUBLICATION
May require a formal Correction Notice

8. Authorship Disputes

The Editorial Team may request explanations and documentation when an authorship dispute arises. However, the journal does not normally adjudicate disputes concerning who should or should not qualify as an author. Unresolved disputes may be referred to the authors' institution, research-integrity office, employer, professional body, or another appropriate authority. Editorial processing may be suspended until the dispute is resolved.

9. Artificial Intelligence and Authorship

Artificial intelligence tools, large language models, generative AI systems, and AI-based logistics or supply-chain platforms must not be listed as authors or co-authors. AI cannot accept accountability, approve a manuscript, declare conflicts of interest, or take responsibility for research integrity. Relevant AI-assisted activities, including AI-supported writing, coding, demand forecasting, route optimization, inventory optimization, simulation, shipment prediction, supply-chain risk analysis, data processing, or analytical interpretation, must instead be disclosed according to the journal's Artificial Intelligence (AI) Usage Policy.

Authorship Checklist Before Submission

✓ Every listed author has made a genuine scholarly contribution	✓ No eligible contributor has been omitted
✓ Author order has been approved by all authors	✓ All authors approved the submitted manuscript
✓ Author Contribution Statement is complete	✓ Corresponding author has been identified
✓ OJS metadata matches the manuscript	✓ Logistics-data sources, optimization assumptions, route/network models, simulations, forecasts, software, and supplementary-material statements are accurate where applicable
✓ AI-assisted activities have been disclosed where required	✓ All authors accept responsibility for the published work

Authorship Principle

In Sinergi International Journal of Logistics, authorship is based on substantive intellectual contribution and accountability. Academic rank, corporate or logistics authority, institutional position, access to warehouses, ports, carriers, fleets, shipment records, supply-chain datasets, GPS or tracking systems, optimization software, funding alone, routine logistics or operational assistance, supervisory status, or professional seniority does not by itself justify authorship.