If a study investigator is a high volume enroller, do they automatically qualify for authorship?

The correct answer is that study investigators who are high-volume enrollers do not automatically qualify for authorship; they must meet all the criteria outlined by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). The ICMJE provides specific criteria for authorship to ensure that those credited as authors have made significant contributions to the study. This includes involvement in the conception and design, data acquisition or analysis, drafting or revising the manuscript, and providing final approval of the version to be published.

Simply enrolling a large number of participants does not inherently demonstrate the intellectual contribution or accountability required for authorship. Authorship should reflect substantive contributions to the research, not merely participation in one component of the research process. Thus, meeting the ICMJE criteria is essential for establishing rightful authorship, regardless of the number of participants enrolled by a researcher.