The mission of the INA-RESPOND partnership is to jointly build and capitalize on opportunities to rapidly launch a research response to emerging infectious disease threats and to benefit the international community by conducting high quality, collaborative and sustainable infectious disease research. The primary results of each study research conducted by INA-RESPOND are expected to be shared with the scientific community and stakeholders through presentations at open scientific meetings and peer-reviewed publications in scientific journals or book. The volunteers who are willing to participate in scientific research is responsible to disseminate research results, following the INA-RESPOND publication policy to ensure that researchers and partner institutions within INA-RESPOND are equitably acknowledged and that their contributions are fairly represented.
The definitions clarify key publication components within INA-RESPOND. Publications refer to the dissemination of research findings through scientific meetings (oral or poster) and written formats such as journals, proceedings, or books. Authorship requires meaningful intellectual contribution to the design, execution, analysis, or interpretation of the research, along with responsibility for the content. Contributors who don’t meet authorship criteria are acknowledged instead. Funding statements must explicitly acknowledge NIAID support using a required citation and must be reviewed and approved prior to submission. Additionally, all applicable clinical trials must be registered in ClinicalTrials.gov, and the assigned NCT number must be included in the final manuscript to journal requirements.
INA-RESPOND is committed to maintaining high standards of research integrity and transparency in all publications. All outputs must accurately reflect the data and follow ICMJE authorship guidelines, with mandatory internal review and approval prior to submission in accordance with INA-RESPOND SOP of study data usage for dissemination. Publications are required to acknowledge INA-RESPOND and all relevant funding or institutional support, while ensuring that confidential or proprietary information is not disclosed without proper authorization. Furthermore, all data and materials generated through INA-RESPOND projects are owned by INA-RESPOND and its partners, and any use or publication of confidential or unpublished data requires prior approval.
Authorship in INA-RESPOND follows ICMJE criteria, (1) requiring substantial contribution to the research, (2) involvement in drafting or critically reviewing the manuscript, (3) final approval, and (4) accountability for the work. Individuals who do not meet all criteria should not be listed as authors but may be acknowledged.
Author order is determined by level of contribution and agreed upon collectively, with disputes resolved by the Manuscript Committee. All authors must disclose conflicts of interest and approve the final manuscript. Specific roles include (1) the first author as the main contributor, (2) co-authors as supporting contributors, (3) Two first authors who contribute equally to both the research and writing of the manuscript, (4) Second-to-last author: the second-most senior person whose responsibilities are similar to the senior author (5) senior/last author as the study leader, and (6) corresponding author as the main contact for submission and communication; co-first authorship and group authorship may be applied when appropriate. Former team members may still qualify for authorship based on their contributions, as determined by the site PI.
Major or unresolved authorship issues are escalated to the External Steering Committee, while routine matters are handled among authors and confirmed by the corresponding author.