ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE POLICY

Purpose and Scope

This policy establishes clear guidelines for the responsible, transparent, and ethical use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools in the preparation, submission, review, and publication of manuscripts submitted to the Journal. The policy applies to authors, reviewers, and editors.

Definition of Artificial Intelligence 

Artificial Intelligence (AI) refers to computer-based systems or tools that can generate, modify, analyze, or interpret text, images, data, or code, including but not limited to large language models (LLMs), grammar checkers, translation tools, data-analysis assistants, and image-generation systems.

Permitted Uses of AI by Authors

Authors may use AI tools only as supportive instruments, provided that full responsibility for the content remains with the authors. Permitted uses include:

  • Language editing, grammar correction, and stylistic improvement

  • Translation of text between languages

  • Formatting assistance and reference management

  • Preliminary data visualization or coding assistance (with verification)

  • Summarization of authors’ own content for clarity

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

Prohibites Uses of AI by Authors

The following uses of AI are strictly prohibited:

  • Generating original research ideas, hypotheses, or theoretical frameworks without author intellectual input

  • Producing fabricated, falsified, or manipulated data, results, references, or citations

  • Writing substantial portions of the manuscript without meaningful human authorship

  • Generating peer-review reports, editorial decisions, or responses to reviewers autonomously

  • Using AI tools to impersonate human authorship or conceal authorship responsibility

AI systems cannot be listed as authors or co-authors, as they cannot take responsibility for scholarly work.

Disclosure and Transpanrency Requirement

Disclosure and Transpare

Authors are required to  in manuscript preparation.

- Disclosure Statement

If AI tools were used, authors must include a statement in the manuscript (e.g., in the acknowledgements or a separate disclosure section), such as:

“Artificial intelligence tools were used for language editing and clarity improvement. The authors take full responsibility for the content, interpretation, and conclusions of this article.”

Failure to disclose AI use may be considered a violation of publication ethics.

Data Integrity, Accuracy, and Accountability

  • Authors are fully responsible for verifying the accuracy, originality, and integrity of all content generated or assisted by AI tools.

  • AI-generated outputs must be carefully reviewed to prevent:

    • factual inaccuracies,

    • hallucinated citations,

    • biased or misleading interpretations.

  • The use of AI does not exempt authors from plagiarism, data fabrication, or ethical misconduct standards.

Use of AI by Reviews

Reviewers may use AI tools only for language assistance or summarization, subject to strict confidentiality.

Reviewers must not:

  • Upload manuscripts or confidential review materials to public or unsecured AI platforms

  • Use AI tools to generate full peer-review reports

  • Rely on AI for evaluative judgments, acceptance decisions, or recommendations

Peer review remains a human-centered scholarly responsibility.

Use of AI by Editors

Editors may use AI tools for:

  • Administrative support,

  • Language checks,

  • Similarity screening assistance.

Editors must not:

  • Delegate editorial decisions to AI systems

  • Use AI to replace scholarly judgment, ethical oversight, or editorial responsibility

Final editorial decisions must always be made by human editors.

Ethical Compliance and Sanctions

Any misuse, non-disclosure, or unethical application of AI tools may result in:

  • Manuscript rejection,

  • Retraction of published articles,

  • Notification to authors’ institutions,

  • Additional sanctions in accordance with COPE guidelines.

Policy Updates

The Journal recognizes that AI technologies evolve rapidly. This policy will be periodically reviewed and updated to reflect best practices, international standards, and ethical guidelines in scholarly publishing.