A Policy on the Use of AI

Policy on the Use of Artificial Intelligence

The Journal fully adheres to the “Guidelines on the Use of Artificial Intelligence in Scholarly Communication” developed by the European Association of Science Editors (EASE).

This policy on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) aims to promote the responsible and transparent use of AI by authors submitting manuscripts to the Journal, reviewers conducting peer evaluation, as well as members of the Editorial Board and editorial staff.

Given the generative capabilities of AI (including text generation, data processing, and report production), such tools may be misused in the preparation of scholarly articles. These practices may conflict with the principles of professional ethics, academic integrity, and the protection of intellectual property. The Editorial Board expects that all authors will voluntarily disclose any use of AI in the preparation of manuscripts submitted for publication.

The use of AI as a methodological tool, with appropriate safeguards, is permitted in the following cases in accordance with the EASE Guidelines:

Literature Review and Citation

The Journal strongly discourages the use of AI-generated outputs as primary sources to support specific claims, as such content may be inaccurate or fabricated.

Data Collection, Cleaning, Analysis, and Interpretation

Authors are strongly encouraged to disclose any use of AI in data collection, cleaning, analysis, or interpretation. Such disclosures should ideally be accompanied by appropriate indicators of robustness and reliability, as well as measures ensuring reproducibility.

Data or Code Generation

Authors must disclose any use of AI for generating data or code. Editors should be aware that AI-generated data or code may serve as a valuable educational resource but may also be misused to fabricate data for hypothesis testing or other analyses.

Visualization (Tables, Figures, Images, Videos, etc.)

Authors are strongly encouraged to disclose any use of AI for visualization purposes. AI-generated visualizations may require additional validation to ensure their reliability, as well as measures to guarantee reproducibility.

Other Uses in Research

Any other use of AI, including those not explicitly listed above, must be disclosed. Such disclosures should be included in an appropriate section of the manuscript (e.g., Acknowledgements, Methods, or AI Declaration).

Any other use of AI in the preparation of a manuscript submitted to the Journal is considered unacceptable.

Procedures for Handling Violations

The procedures for detecting and establishing cases of academic misconduct, reviewing such cases, and handling appeals related to the improper use of AI shall be carried out in accordance with the Journal’s policy on the retraction of published articles.

Authorship and AI

Generative AI tools (hereinafter referred to as AI tools), including large language models (LLMs) and multimodal models, cannot be listed as authors, as they do not meet authorship criteria and cannot assume responsibility under licensing agreements.

If AI tools were used in the research, this must be explicitly stated in the Materials and Methods section. Authors must specify the nature and extent of AI use, as well as provide the full name and version of the tool employed.

Author Responsibility

Authors bear full responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, and reliability of the information presented in the manuscript, even if AI tools were used in its preparation. Authors must also confirm the absence of plagiarism in their manuscript. This applies not only to text but also to images, tables, and other materials generated using AI tools. All sources must be properly acknowledged, and full citations must be provided where applicable.

Editorial and Peer Review Considerations

The appropriateness of AI tool usage will be additionally evaluated by editors and reviewers during the double-blind peer review process.

Reviewers are strictly prohibited from uploading manuscripts into AI tools or using AI technologies that may compromise confidentiality.

The use or non-use of AI must be explicitly stated in the relevant section of the manuscript.

AI-Generated Content Labeling

Images, photorealistic visuals, diagrams, drawings, and other materials generated using AI must be clearly labeled as: “Imagined with AI.”