Generative AI Policy

1. Introduction

The Journal of Applied Informatics and Computing (JAIC) recognizes the increasing role of Generative Artificial Intelligence (Generative AI) and AI-assisted technologies in research, scholarly writing, and academic publishing.

Generative AI tools, including large language models (LLMs), multimodal AI systems, AI-assisted search tools, and other content-generation technologies, can support researchers in activities such as generating and exploring ideas, improving language and readability, organizing information, assisting with coding, classifying literature, and supporting certain research activities.

At the same time, the use of Generative AI introduces important considerations regarding research integrity, accuracy, authorship, intellectual property, confidentiality, privacy, bias, and accountability.

Therefore, JAIC permits the responsible use of Generative AI and AI-assisted technologies while maintaining the principle that human authors, editors, and reviewers remain responsible for the scholarly work and decisions associated with publication.

This policy is informed by international recommendations and publishing practices, including guidance from the STM Association, Elsevier, and the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME). These organizations emphasize transparency, human oversight, accountability, confidentiality, and responsible use of AI in scholarly publishing.

JAIC may periodically revise this policy as Generative AI technologies, legal requirements, research practices, and international publishing standards evolve.

2. General Principles

The use of Generative AI or AI-assisted technologies in connection with a manuscript submitted to JAIC must follow the following principles:

1. Human accountability
AI tools cannot be considered authors. Human authors remain fully responsible for the originality, accuracy, integrity, interpretation, and conclusions of their work.
2. Transparency
Authors should disclose substantive use of Generative AI in manuscript preparation. The disclosure should identify the AI tool, its purpose, and the nature or extent of its use.
3. Verification
AI-generated content must be critically reviewed and verified by the authors. Authors are responsible for identifying and correcting inaccurate, fabricated, incomplete, biased, or misleading information.
4. Confidentiality and privacy
Authors, editors, and reviewers must ensure that confidential, unpublished, personal, proprietary, or otherwise restricted information is not improperly submitted to external AI systems.
5. Intellectual property and copyright
Users of AI tools are responsible for ensuring that their use of the tools does not infringe copyright, intellectual property, licensing, confidentiality, or other applicable rights.
6. Human oversight
Generative AI must support, rather than replace, human scholarly judgment, critical thinking, interpretation, and decision-making.
7. Research integrity
AI must not be used to fabricate, falsify, manipulate, or misrepresent research data, results, references, images, figures, or other scholarly evidence.

3. Policy for Authors
3.1 Permitted Uses of Generative AI

JAIC permits authors to use Generative AI and AI-assisted technologies responsibly for activities such as:

  • generating and exploring research ideas;
  • brainstorming research questions or possible approaches;
  • improving grammar, spelling, language, and readability;
  • improving the structure and organization of a manuscript;
  • assisting authors who are writing in a second or additional language;
  • assisting with literature organization or classification;
  • supporting background literature searches;
  • assisting with coding and programming;
  • explaining programming concepts or technical approaches;
  • assisting with data-analysis workflows, where the use is appropriately validated;
  • identifying possible research gaps or alternative approaches; and
  • other supportive activities that do not replace the authors' scholarly judgment.

The use of AI for research activities should be described in the Methods section when the AI tool forms part of the research methodology or materially contributes to the research process.

AI tools should not be treated as authoritative sources. Authors must independently verify information, references, quotations, calculations, code, and other substantive outputs generated or suggested by AI.

3.2 Human Responsibility

Authors remain fully responsible for the content of their manuscript regardless of whether any part of the work was prepared or assisted by an AI tool.

Authors must:

  • review and critically evaluate AI-generated content;
  • verify factual claims and references;
  • ensure that citations are accurate and genuinely support the claims made;
  • ensure that the manuscript represents the authors' own scholarly contribution;
  • correct any errors, hallucinations, omissions, or biases introduced by AI;
  • ensure compliance with copyright and intellectual property requirements; and
  • ensure that the final manuscript meets JAIC's standards of research integrity and publication ethics.

AI-generated output must not be submitted as though it were independently verified scholarly work.

4. Disclosure of Generative AI Use

Authors must disclose substantive use of Generative AI or AI-assisted technologies in the preparation of a manuscript.

The disclosure should include:

  • the name of the AI tool or service;
  • the version or model, where reasonably identifiable;
  • the purpose for which the tool was used; and
  • the nature or extent of human review and oversight.

JAIC recommends that the disclosure be placed in a separate section entitled:

"Declaration of Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies"

The declaration should normally appear immediately before the References, unless the use of AI forms part of the research methodology, in which case the relevant methodological details should also be provided in the Methods section.

Recommended statement

Declaration of Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies: During the preparation of this manuscript, the authors used [NAME OF TOOL/SERVICE, VERSION/MODEL] for [DESCRIBE PURPOSE]. The authors reviewed and edited the output generated by the tool and take full responsibility for the accuracy, originality, integrity, and final content of the published work.

The exact wording may be adapted according to the actual use of the technology.

Basic spelling, punctuation, and grammar assistance generally does not require a separate declaration when it does not involve substantive generation or restructuring of the manuscript. However, authors should disclose AI use when the tool makes substantive changes to the content, organization, argumentation, or expression of the manuscript. This approach is consistent with current journal AI guidance.

5. Generative AI and Authorship

Generative AI tools, including ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Microsoft Copilot, or similar systems, cannot be listed as authors or co-authors of a JAIC manuscript.

Authorship requires responsibilities that AI systems cannot assume, including accountability for the content, approval of the final manuscript, responsibility for research integrity, and participation in publication and copyright-related agreements.

Authors must therefore remain identifiable human researchers who can take responsibility for the published work.

6. Prohibited or Unacceptable Uses

Authors must not use Generative AI in ways that compromise research integrity or the reliability of the scholarly record.

Examples include:

  • submitting AI-generated text without appropriate human review and verification;
  • fabricating or inventing research results;
  • generating or altering research data without appropriate methodological justification and disclosure;
  • generating fabricated references or citations;
  • presenting AI-generated information as verified evidence without independent verification;
  • using AI to conceal plagiarism or inappropriate text reuse;
  • manipulating research findings or conclusions through undisclosed AI intervention;
  • using AI-generated content that infringes copyright or other intellectual property rights;
  • uploading confidential or restricted information to AI services without appropriate authorization and safeguards; and
  • using AI in any manner that violates applicable laws, research ethics, institutional requirements, or JAIC publication policies.

Where AI-generated synthetic data are part of the legitimate research methodology, their use must be explicitly described, justified, and validated in the manuscript. Synthetic data must not be presented as observed or experimentally collected data.

7. AI-Generated Images, Figures, and Research Materials

Authors must disclose the use of Generative AI in the creation or substantive alteration of images, figures, diagrams, graphical abstracts, or other visual materials when such use is permitted.

AI-generated or AI-assisted visual material must not:

  • misrepresent research results;
  • introduce or remove features from research evidence in a misleading manner;
  • fabricate experimental or observational findings;
  • conceal relevant information;
  • violate copyright or licensing restrictions; or
  • create a false impression regarding the origin or authenticity of research evidence.

For original research data, scientific images, experimental images, or other evidence-based visual materials, authors must preserve the integrity of the underlying evidence. Any AI-assisted processing must be scientifically justified, transparently described, and consistent with accepted practices in the relevant discipline.

JAIC reserves the right to request original, unprocessed, or source materials where necessary to assess research integrity.

8. Generative AI in Coding and Software Development

Because JAIC publishes research in informatics and computing, AI-assisted programming may be useful during software development.

Authors may use AI tools to assist with:

  • code suggestions;
  • debugging;
  • code explanation;
  • refactoring;
  • documentation;
  • test-case development; and
  • programming-language conversion.

However, authors remain responsible for:

  • verifying the correctness and security of AI-assisted code;
  • ensuring that the code actually implements the methodology described in the manuscript;
  • checking licenses and intellectual property restrictions;
  • validating experimental results;
  • ensuring that AI-assisted code does not introduce security vulnerabilities or hidden functionality; and
  • disclosing material AI assistance when it substantively contributes to the research methodology or manuscript.

AI-generated code must not be assumed to be correct merely because it executes successfully.

9. Use of Generative AI by Peer Reviewers

Peer review manuscripts submitted to JAIC are confidential.

Reviewers must not upload unpublished manuscripts, manuscript sections, figures, tables, supplementary materials, reviewer forms, or other confidential information obtained through the peer-review process into public or external Generative AI systems.

Such use may create risks relating to confidentiality, intellectual property, privacy, and the protection of unpublished research. Current publishing guidance similarly prohibits reviewers from uploading confidential manuscripts into AI systems.

Reviewers must conduct their scientific evaluation independently and remain responsible for the accuracy, fairness, and integrity of their review.

9.1 Permitted Supportive Use by Reviewers

Subject to confidentiality requirements, reviewers may use appropriate private or institutionally approved AI tools for limited supportive activities, such as:

  • improving the grammar and readability of their own review comments;
  • improving the structure of a review report; or
  • conducting a general background literature search that does not involve uploading confidential manuscript content.

Reviewers must not use AI to replace their own scientific judgment or to make the substantive assessment of a manuscript.

If AI is used substantively in preparing a review report, reviewers should disclose this to the editor and remain fully responsible for the final review.

A reviewer may use a statement such as:

Declaration of AI Use in Peer Review: During the preparation of this review report, I used [NAME OF TOOL/SERVICE, VERSION/MODEL] for [DESCRIBE PURPOSE]. I reviewed and edited the output and take full responsibility for the accuracy, integrity, and scholarly assessment expressed in this review.

Basic spelling, grammar, or punctuation checking does not normally require disclosure.

10. Generative AI Use by Editors

JAIC editors must maintain strict confidentiality throughout the editorial and peer-review process.

Editors must not upload unpublished manuscripts or any part of submitted manuscripts into public or external Generative AI systems.

This prohibition includes:

  • complete manuscripts;
  • manuscript excerpts;
  • figures and tables;
  • supplementary files;
  • reviewer reports;
  • author correspondence;
  • editorial correspondence; and
  • any other confidential information obtained through the editorial process.

Editors are responsible for editorial decisions and must not delegate substantive editorial judgment to Generative AI.

AI tools must not be used to determine:

  • whether a manuscript should be accepted or rejected;
  • whether a manuscript is scientifically valid;
  • whether an author should be invited to revise;
  • the quality or originality of a manuscript; or
  • the final editorial decision.

Where an AI system is used for an administrative or language-support function that does not involve confidential manuscript content, the editor remains fully responsible for the resulting communication.

11. Confidentiality, Privacy, and Data Protection

Before using any Generative AI tool, authors and other users should review the provider's terms of service and privacy policy.

Particular attention should be given to whether the tool:

  • retains submitted information;
  • uses submitted information for model training;
  • shares information with third parties;
  • provides appropriate confidentiality safeguards;
  • permits commercial or scholarly publication of generated outputs; and
  • complies with applicable data-protection requirements.

Users should not submit personal data, confidential information, unpublished research, proprietary information, copyrighted material, or other restricted content to an AI system unless they have the appropriate rights and safeguards.

The responsibility for protecting such information remains with the user.

12. Verification of AI-Generated References and Information

AI tools may generate inaccurate, incomplete, outdated, or fabricated information and references.

Authors, reviewers, and editors must therefore independently verify relevant information before relying on it.

In particular, authors should verify:

  • author names;
  • article titles;
  • journal titles;
  • publication years;
  • DOI information;
  • URLs;
  • quotations;
  • statistical information;
  • technical specifications;
  • legal or regulatory claims; and
  • other factual statements.

AI-generated citations must never be accepted solely because they appear plausible.

13. Editorial Assessment and Compliance

JAIC reserves the right to request clarification regarding the use of Generative AI in a submitted manuscript.

Where necessary, authors may be asked to provide:

  • additional information about the AI tool used;
  • details of how the tool was used;
  • relevant methodological information;
  • original or source materials;
  • evidence supporting reported results; or
  • clarification regarding the authors' contribution and responsibility.

Failure to disclose substantive AI use, deliberate misrepresentation of AI-generated material, fabrication of research content, or other misuse of AI may result in editorial action in accordance with JAIC's publication ethics policies.

Possible actions may include requesting clarification or revision, additional review, rejection of the manuscript, correction of the published article, or other appropriate editorial measures depending on the circumstances.

14. Continuous Review of This Policy

Generative AI technologies and scholarly publishing practices continue to evolve rapidly.

JAIC will periodically review and update this policy to reflect developments in:

  • Generative AI technologies;
  • research integrity standards;
  • copyright and intellectual property law;
  • privacy and data-protection requirements;
  • scholarly publishing practices; and
  • recommendations from recognized organizations and publishing communities.

The most recent version of this policy published on the JAIC website shall apply to manuscripts submitted under that version of the policy.

References and Guidance

This policy has been informed by international guidance and recommendations concerning the responsible use of Generative AI in scholarly publishing, including:

  • STM Association, Recommendations for a Classification of AI Use in Academic Manuscript Preparation.
  • Elsevier, Generative AI Policies for Journals.
  • World Association of Medical Editors (WAME), Chatbots, Generative AI, and Scholarly Manuscripts.

JAIC may interpret and apply these principles according to the specific circumstances of a manuscript, while maintaining the fundamental principles of transparency, human accountability, research integrity, confidentiality, and responsible use of AI.