Being correctly credited as an author matters – for you and your co-authors. Enter author data carefully and completely when you submit your manuscript, and review it again after submission, because once your article is formally accepted, this information can no longer be changed by authors (visit: Changing article metadata or manuscript files after acceptance).
What metadata to enter
- Full name(s)
- Degree(s)
- Email address (institutional emails are strongly encouraged)
- ORCID (visit: What is an ORCID, why is it mandatory to have one, and how can I get one?)
- Affiliation(s) for each author
If your manuscript is accepted after peer review, authorship information is taken from the metadata form – not from the manuscript file. This information is also submitted to bibliographic databases (e.g., PubMed, Medline, where applicable) and used to build the journal's table of contents.
Common issues to check
- Names: Confirm correct spelling and appearance for all authors, including middle names/initials. Never use ALL CAPS. Check with co-authors – many use a middle initial to stay distinguishable in Medline (e.g., "Smith AJ" instead of "Smith A").
- Degrees: Order from lowest to highest (e.g., "MPH, PhD"). Use the up/down arrows in the metadata form. See our degree guidelines for details.
- Email: Confirm every author's email address is correct. Only the email address of the corresponding author is published. Contact details of other authors are not published, but each author must be reachable to sign the License to Publish after an article has been accepted. Refer to Can I change my author email in my article's metadata? below.
- Address: Only the address of the corresponding author is published. Please make sure to use your official/institutional address instead of your private address.
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Affiliations:
- No short forms or acronyms (e.g., "Nursing" → "Department of Nursing"; "UHN" → "University Health Network")
- Title case – not ALL CAPS or all lowercase
- Don't abbreviate "Dept." or "Dep."
- List every affiliation separately if an author has more than one
- US/Canada cities must include the state/province abbreviation in the city field, separated by a comma (e.g., "Bethesda, MD"; "Toronto, ON")
- ORCID: Entered for every author (visit: As submitting author, where do I enter the ORCIDs of my coauthors?)
- Corresponding author: Only one is allowed per manuscript. For more information, refer to our user guide: Can there be two corresponding authors?
- Equal contribution: A footnote for two or more authors can be added via the checkbox on the submission form.
Editing your metadata
- Log in to your account at jmir.org/author.
- Select your manuscript title from the list.
- Scroll down to the Submission Metadata section, click Edit Metadata and make your changes.
- Save changes.
Finding an error after acceptance or publication
If your article is already accepted and you need to change any details, refer to: Changing article metadata or manuscript files after acceptance.
If you need to fix something after publication, refer to: We published a paper in JMIR and have a correction. What is the process of publishing a corrigendum?
See also:
- How should I enter author affiliations?
- Choosing Keywords
- What are JMIR's guidelines for article titles?
- As submitting author, where do I enter the ORCIDs of my co-authors?
- As a co-author, how do I add my ORCID to the manuscript metadata?
- Can I swap the order of my first and last name in the metadata?
- How to Add, Remove, or Reorder Authors During Peer Review (Before Publication)
- Editing or correcting article metadata after acceptance