AI USAGE POLICY

1. Introduction and Guiding Principles

This journal is dedicated to upholding the highest standards of publication ethics, transparency, and scholarly integrity. As artificial intelligence tools evolve rapidly, clear guidelines are essential to ensure that technology serves scholarly inquiry without compromising authorial accountability, intellectual ownership, or academic honesty. This policy aligns with standards established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and global academic indexing bodies.

2. Authorship and Human Accountability

  • AI Ineligibility for Authorship: Generative AI tools, large language models (LLMs), machine learning algorithms, or automated chatbots (such as ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, or equivalent platforms) cannot be credited as authors or co-authors. Authorship carries moral, intellectual, and legal accountability, including the capacity to approve the final manuscript version and defend the research methodology and findings.

  • Unwavering Author Responsibility: The human authors remain solely and entirely accountable for the manuscript's originality, integrity, validity, and accuracy. Authors must independently verify that citations are authentic and verifiable, that text is free from algorithmic bias or hallucination, and that no copyrighted material has been misappropriated.

3. Permissible and Prohibited Uses for Authors

A. Permissible Uses

  1. Language and Style Refinement: Enhancing grammar, syntax, flow, tone, and readability of the author’s original prose.

  2. Brainstorming and Drafting Aids: Assisting in structural organization, title ideation, and literature exploration, provided the output undergoes rigorous human vetting.

  3. Data Analysis and Coding Support: Generating or debugging code and assisting with routine computational tasks, with code scripts properly verified, documented, and archived.

B. Prohibited Uses

  1. Data Fabrication and Falsification: Generating, altering, synthesizing, or falsifying empirical research data, survey results, laboratory measurements, or interview excerpts.

  2. Image and Visual Manipulation: Creating synthetic research images or artificially altering primary scientific figures, photographic evidence, or diagnostic visuals without explicit, documented experimental rationale.

  3. Ghostwriting and Content Generation: Generating substantial theoretical claims, literature synthesis, discussion points, or conclusions without substantial human intellectual effort.

4. Mandatory Declaration Requirements

Authors who utilize generative AI or AI-assisted technologies during any stage of manuscript preparation must include an explicit disclosure in their final manuscript.

Placement

The disclosure must appear under a separate heading titled "Declaration of Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies in the Writing Process", positioned immediately before the References / Bibliography section.

Standard Declaration Templates

Option A: When AI tools were utilized

Declaration of Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies in the Writing Process

During the preparation of this work, the author(s) used [Tool/Model Name, Version, Developer] to [specify the exact application, e.g., improve the English language phrasing and readability of Sections 2 and 4]. After using this tool, the author(s) thoroughly reviewed, edited, and validated the material and take full responsibility for the content and integrity of the final publication.

Option B: When no AI tools were utilized

Declaration of Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies in the Writing Process

The author(s) declare that no generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools or AI-assisted technologies were used in the research conception, data collection, drafting, or editing of this manuscript.

5. Reviewer Obligations and Confidentiality

  • Absolute Manuscript Confidentiality: Reviewers are strictly forbidden from uploading unpublished manuscripts, datasets, figures, or peer communication into generative AI platforms or public LLM interfaces. Doing so violates author confidentiality, data protection laws, and intellectual property agreements.

  • Originality in Peer Review: Peer review reports must reflect the reviewer’s independent critical analysis. Generating review evaluations, critical summaries, or editorial recommendations using automated generative AI tools is strictly prohibited.

6. Editorial Standards and Integrity Verification

  • Editorial Decision-Making: Editors and the editorial board will not employ generative AI to determine manuscript acceptance, revision requests, or rejection. Editorial evaluations remain exclusively human-driven.

  • Screening and Retraction: The editorial office reserves the right to employ screening tools to detect undisclosed AI-generated content, citation fabrication, and text recycling. Any manuscript displaying undisclosed AI usage, data fabrication, or ethical non-compliance will be subject to immediate desk rejection, or retraction if detected post-publication, in accordance with COPE guidelines.