At an appropriate place in the article, one or more statements should specify (a) contributions that need acknowledging but do not justify authorship, such as general support by a departmental chair; (b) acknowledgements of technical help; (c) acknowledgements of financial and material support, which should specify the nature of the support; and (d) relationships that may pose a conflict of interest.
Anyone who has contributed intellectually to the paper but whose contributions do not justify authorship may be named and their function or contribution described, for example, ‘scientific advisor’, ‘critical review of study proposal’, ‘data collection’, or ‘participation in clinical trial’. Such persons must have given their permission to be named. Authors are responsible for obtaining written permission from persons acknowledged by name, because readers may conclude their endorsement of the data and conclusions. Technical help should be acknowledged in a paragraph separate from those acknowledging other contributions.