Publication policy

For all papers based on the analysis of individual patient data each national/regional registry whose data are included will be provided with the opportunity to contribute one author, provided this person meets the ICMJE criteria for authorship. This person need not be the national/regional representative, as he/she can transfer his ‘right’ to someone else in the country with specific expertise on the subject. Also Registry Committee members at the time of submission will be provided the opportunity to be an author.

There is one exception regarding the invitation for authorship. If in research collaborations papers are based on collaboration with registries or researchers outside Europe and in the resulting papers Europe will be presented as one ‘country/continent’, the Registry will determine which of the national/regional registry representatives or Registry Committee members should be invited to contribute to the paper.

Authors should meet all ICMJE criteria for authorship:

1. substantial contributions to conception or design of the work, or the acquisition of data, analysis, or interpretation of data; and
2. drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content; and
3. final approval of the version to be published; and
4. agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Based on the comments received on the draft version(s) of a manuscript the first and last authors will decide together who qualifies for authorship. According to the second ICMJE criterion, sending only an affiliation without providing comments on the content of the draft paper is insufficient for authorship.

There will be no maximum regarding the number of authors as the ICMJE rules state that all who qualify for authorship should be listed. The Registry will, however, follow instructions of the journal that accepted the paper. Any consequences this may have for authorship will be communicated to the relevant persons. In case a national/regional registry representative will not qualify for authorship, he or she will be mentioned as “contributor” or “collaborator”.