The journal recognises the increasing use of artificial intelligence (AI), including generative AI tools, in scholarly communication. This policy establishes the conditions under which such tools may be used in the preparation, submission, peer review and publication of manuscripts.

The journal’s approach is based on the principles of transparency, human accountability, research integrity, confidentiality and appropriate disclosure, and takes into account relevant guidance from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

Permitted Use of Generative AI by Authors

Authors may use generative AI tools as supportive aids for limited purposes, including:

• language editing and grammatical improvement;
• improving the clarity and readability of author-written text;
• suggesting improvements to the organisation or structure of a manuscript; and
• assisting with the technical formatting of references, tables or other manuscript elements.

Any output produced by an AI tool must be carefully reviewed and verified by the authors before submission. Authors remain responsible for ensuring that AI-assisted content is accurate, appropriate, original and supported by reliable sources.

AI tools must not replace the authors’ own intellectual contribution, scholarly judgement, interpretation or critical analysis.

In accordance with the journal’s language requirements, AI-generated or machine-produced translations of manuscripts are not accepted as a substitute for professional translation.

 

Authorship and Accountability

AI tools, including large language models and other generative AI systems, must not be listed as authors or co-authors.

Authorship requires accountability for the submitted work, the ability to approve the final version, responsibility for the accuracy and integrity of the content, and the capacity to respond to questions concerning the work. These responsibilities cannot be assigned to an AI system.

The human authors remain fully responsible for all material included in the manuscript, regardless of whether AI tools were used during its preparation.

 

Disclosure of AI Use

Authors must disclose any substantive use of generative AI tools in the preparation of a manuscript.

The disclosure should identify:

• the name of the AI tool and, where relevant, the version used;
• the purpose for which the tool was used; and
• the nature and extent of its contribution.

Depending on the type of use, this information should be provided in the Materials and Methods section, Acknowledgements or another appropriate section of the manuscript.

Where AI forms part of the research methodology, including data processing, analytical procedures, modelling or image processing, authors must provide sufficient methodological information to enable readers to understand and, where reasonably possible, reproduce the procedure.

Routine use of conventional non-generative tools for spelling checking, reference management or standard word-processing functions does not normally require disclosure.

Failure to disclose relevant use of generative AI may be investigated as a publication ethics concern. Any editorial action will depend on the nature of the undisclosed use and its effect on the reliability, originality and integrity of the manuscript.

 

Prohibited Uses of AI

The journal does not permit the use of AI tools to:

• fabricate, invent or falsify research data, results or findings;
• create fictitious datasets, experiments, participants, observations or sources;
• generate false, inaccurate or unverifiable citations or references;
• misrepresent AI-generated material as independently produced empirical evidence;
• manipulate images, figures or research data in a manner that misrepresents the original information;
• conceal plagiarism, inappropriate text reuse or other forms of publication misconduct; or
• generate a manuscript in place of substantive human intellectual and scholarly contribution.

AI-generated content must not be used in a way that compromises the reliability, traceability or integrity of the research record.

 

Use of AI in Research and Data Analysis

The use of AI as a legitimate research or analytical method is not prohibited provided that its use is scientifically justified, transparent and consistent with accepted standards in the relevant discipline.

Where AI systems are used for data analysis, classification, modelling, image processing or other research procedures, authors must clearly describe their use in the Materials and Methods section, including sufficient information about the tool, model or procedure to permit appropriate evaluation of the methodology.

Authors remain responsible for validating AI-generated analytical outputs and must not rely on AI-generated results without appropriate scientific verification.

 

Accuracy of References and Sources

Authors are responsible for verifying every reference, quotation, factual statement and source included in a manuscript.

AI-generated references must not be cited unless the authors have independently confirmed that the cited publication or source exists and that the bibliographic information and attributed content are accurate.

The use of generative AI does not relieve authors of responsibility for compliance with the journal’s citation, plagiarism and research-integrity requirements.

 

AI-Generated and AI-Modified Images

The creation or modification of scientific images using generative AI must not result in the fabrication, concealment, removal or misleading alteration of research information.

Where AI-based image processing forms part of the research methodology, its use must be clearly disclosed and described in sufficient methodological detail.

Any AI-generated illustrative material must be clearly identified as such where its nature could otherwise be misunderstood by readers.

 

Editorial Action in Cases of Undisclosed or Inappropriate AI Use

Where the journal has reasonable concerns regarding inappropriate or undisclosed AI use, the Editorial Office may request an explanation, original research materials, underlying data or other supporting information from the authors.

The mere output of an automated AI-detection tool will not be regarded as conclusive evidence of misconduct. Such tools may be used only as supplementary screening aids, and any concerns must be assessed in context.

Depending on the findings, editorial action may include:

• a request for clarification or correction;
• revision of the manuscript;
• rejection of a manuscript under consideration;
• publication of a correction or other post-publication notice; or
• retraction where inappropriate AI use has materially compromised the reliability or integrity of an already published article.

Editorial action will be proportionate to the nature and seriousness of the issue.

 

Use of AI by Reviewers

Reviewers must not upload submitted manuscripts, manuscript excerpts, figures, tables, supplementary materials or confidential peer-review information to publicly accessible generative AI systems.

Submitted manuscripts are confidential documents, and reviewers are responsible for protecting all unpublished information obtained through the peer-review process.

The journal does not permit reviewers to delegate the substantive evaluation of a manuscript or the formulation of peer-review judgements to generative AI tools.

Peer-review reports must reflect the reviewer’s own expert assessment, and the reviewer remains personally accountable for the content and recommendations contained in the report.

 

Use of AI by Editors

Editors must not use generative AI systems to replace their own scholarly judgement or to make editorial decisions concerning manuscripts.

Confidential manuscripts or manuscript materials must not be uploaded to external generative AI systems where doing so could compromise confidentiality, intellectual property, personal data or the integrity of the peer-review process.

Final editorial decisions are made by qualified human editors in accordance with the journal’s peer-review, editorial and publication ethics policies.

 

Confidentiality

Authors, reviewers and editors must ensure that their use of AI tools does not result in the unauthorised disclosure of confidential, personal, proprietary or unpublished information.

Particular care must be taken when an AI service retains prompts, uploaded files or other submitted information for subsequent processing or system development.

 

Post-Publication Concerns

Concerns regarding the use of AI identified after publication will be assessed in accordance with the journal’s Corrections, Retractions and Publication Integrity Policy.

Undisclosed AI use does not automatically require retraction. Retraction may be considered where the use of AI has materially undermined the reliability, originality, ethical validity or integrity of the published article.

 

Policy Review

As AI technologies and standards for their use in scholarly publishing continue to develop, the journal may periodically review and update this policy to ensure that it remains appropriate to current research and publication practices.