PrimEarly: Journal of Elementary Education and Early Childhood Studies establishes this policy with reference to the guidance of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) on authorship and contributorship. This policy aims to ensure transparent attribution, appropriate recognition of scholarly contributions, and accountability for published work, particularly in research related to elementary education and early childhood education.

1. Eligibility for Authorship

Authorship must reflect substantial scholarly contributions to the research and manuscript. Such contributions may include developing the research concept or design, collecting data, conducting research in educational settings, analyzing and interpreting findings, reviewing relevant literature, or developing the manuscript's arguments.

Each author is expected to participate meaningfully in drafting the manuscript or critically revising it for important intellectual content, approve the final version before publication, and accept responsibility for their contribution to the work. Authors must also cooperate in addressing questions concerning the accuracy, validity, or integrity of the research.

All individuals who meet the authorship criteria must be included as authors, and no individual may be listed without their knowledge and consent. Institutional position, academic seniority, funding provision, general supervision, administrative assistance, or language editing alone does not justify authorship.

2. Disclosure of Author Contributions

Every manuscript submitted to PrimEarly must include an author contributions statement describing the actual contribution of each author. Relevant activities may include conceptualization, research design, literature review, data collection, development of research instruments, data analysis, interpretation of findings, drafting, critical revision, and supervision involving substantial intellectual input.

Contributions must be identified consistently by author name or initials. The statement must accurately reflect each author's involvement and be agreed upon by all authors. Multiple authors may share a role, and one author may undertake several roles. Single-author manuscripts must also include a statement describing the author's contribution.

3. Author List and Order

Authors should discuss and agree upon authorship and author order at an early stage of the research process and confirm their agreement before manuscript submission. Decisions regarding authorship and order must reflect actual scholarly contributions and relevant disciplinary practices.

All authors must consent to submission to PrimEarly. Author names, institutional affiliations, and contribution information must be accurate and consistent across the manuscript and submission metadata. The journal does not determine or assign author order on behalf of the authors.

4. Corresponding Author

The corresponding author serves as the primary contact between the author team and PrimEarly throughout manuscript submission, peer review, revision, publication, and post-publication communication.

The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that all authors are informed of relevant editorial communications, agree to the author list and contribution statement, and approve the final manuscript. The corresponding author must also coordinate responses to editorial inquiries and requests for clarification or correction.

The corresponding author role does not replace the responsibilities of