AI Policy

The use of AI tools (such as LLMs) is permitted but must be transparent and limited, with authors retaining full accountability.

• • Non-Authorship: AI tools cannot be credited as an author or co-author due to the lack of legal accountability.
• • Accountability: Authors are solely responsible for accuracy, validity, originality, and copyright of all generated text, data, or visuals.
• • Disclosure of Use: Authors must disclose AI usage in Methods or Acknowledgments (stating tool name, purpose, and specific sections edited).
• • Plagiarism & Citation: AI-generated content must be checked for plagiarism, and underlying sources must be properly cited.
• • Images & Visuals (Craft): AI-generated images or design representations must be disclosed in figure captions without infringing on traditional IP rights.

AI tools may assist administrative tasks, but strict ethical limits apply to ensure peer review integrity.

• • Confidentiality: Reviewers and editors must not upload or paste any part of a manuscript into AI tools, as this breaches confidentiality.
• • Assessment: AI tools cannot generate review reports or editorial decisions. Human judgment remains strictly essential.

Any breach of this policy will be treated as publishing misconduct, including:

• • Presenting AI-generated text or images without formal disclosure.
• • Crediting an AI tool as an author or co-author.
• • Using AI tools resulting in data fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism.