AI Policy for Authors
Policy Statement
Authors may use artificial intelligence tools to support language editing, formatting, literature organization, coding support, statistical assistance, figure drafting, or other research support tasks only when the use is ethical, transparent, legal, and does not replace author responsibility.
Author Responsibility
Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, integrity, references, analysis, images, data, and conclusions of the manuscript. AI tools cannot be listed as authors because they cannot take responsibility for the work, approve the final version, or be accountable for research integrity.
Required Disclosure
Authors must disclose meaningful use of AI tools in the manuscript, cover letter, or dedicated declaration section. The disclosure should include the tool name, version if known, date or period of use, and purpose of use.
Minor grammar or spelling assistance may be disclosed when substantial, but it does not normally require detailed methodological reporting.
Minor grammar or spelling assistance may be disclosed when substantial, but it does not normally require detailed methodological reporting.
Prohibited Use
- Generating or altering research data without clear labeling and methodological justification.
- Creating false citations, fake references, fabricated ethics approvals, or unsupported claims.
- Uploading confidential patient information, identifiable data, reviewer comments, or unpublished third-party manuscripts into public AI tools without permission and safeguards.
- Using AI to hide plagiarism, duplicate publication, image manipulation, or authorship misrepresentation.
- Submitting AI-generated text without author verification for accuracy, bias, references, and originality.
Suggested Disclosure Wording
The authors used [tool name] during [date/period] for [purpose]. The authors reviewed and verified all output and take full responsibility for the manuscript content.