Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy

1. Purpose

We recognize that artificial intelligence (AI), including generative artificial intelligence (GenAI), large language models (LLMs), chatbots, AI-assisted writing tools, image-generation tools, and other AI technologies, can provide useful assistance in scholarly research, manuscript preparation, editing, publishing, and communication.

At the same time, the use of AI in scholarly publishing raises important concerns regarding accuracy, originality, plagiarism, copyright, confidentiality, transparency, authorship, research integrity, and accountability.

This policy establishes the principles governing the responsible and transparent use of AI in manuscripts submitted to and published by this journal.

This policy applies to authors, reviewers, editors, editorial board members, and other individuals involved in the editorial and publication process.

2. General Principles

AI-assisted technologies may be used when their use is appropriate, responsible, transparent, and consistent with research and publication ethics.

However:

• AI tools cannot be authors or co-authors of a manuscript.
• Human authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, integrity, and ethical compliance of their work.
• Authors must carefully verify all AI-generated or AI-assisted content before submission.
• AI-generated text, references, data, images, figures, or other material must not introduce plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, copyright infringement, or misleading information.
• The use of AI must not compromise the confidentiality of unpublished manuscripts, research data, personal information, or other confidential material.
• Authors, reviewers, and editors must disclose relevant use of AI in accordance with this policy.

These principles are consistent with current recommendations from the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) and guidance from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

3. Acceptable Use of AI by Authors

Authors may use AI-assisted technologies for appropriate purposes, including:

• grammar, spelling, punctuation, and language correction;
• improving clarity, readability, and organization of text;
• translation or language assistance;
• generating suggestions for wording or structure;
• assisting with literature-search strategies;
• assisting with coding or programming, provided that the resulting code and analyses are independently verified;
• assisting with data analysis or visualization, provided that the methods, outputs, and conclusions are independently verified by the authors;
• generating ideas or outlines during the development of a manuscript;
• assisting with the preparation or improvement of figures, graphical abstracts, or other visual materials, where permitted by applicable copyright and journal requirements.

Use of AI for these purposes does not transfer responsibility from the authors to the AI system.

4. AI-Generated or AI-Assisted Scientific Content

Authors must exercise particular caution when AI is used to generate or substantially modify scientific content.

AI systems may produce inaccurate, incomplete, biased, fabricated, or misleading information, including non-existent references and incorrect scientific statements.

Therefore, authors must independently verify:

• scientific facts and statements;
• references and citations;
• numerical results;
• statistical analyses;
• tables and figures;
• data interpretation;
• conclusions;
• quotations and attributions;
• information concerning animals, patients, humans, or other research subjects.

Authors are responsible for ensuring that the final manuscript accurately reflects the underlying research.

AI must not be used to fabricate or manipulate research data, experimental results, images, clinical findings, statistical results, references, or other scientific evidence.

5. AI and Authorship

AI systems, including ChatGPT and other generative AI tools, must not be listed as authors or co-authors.

Authorship requires responsibility and accountability for the published work. AI systems cannot accept responsibility for the accuracy, integrity, originality, conflicts of interest, copyright, or ethical aspects of a manuscript.

All authors must meet the journal's applicable authorship requirements and remain responsible for the content of the manuscript, including material produced or modified with AI assistance.

6. Disclosure of AI Use

Authors must disclose the use of AI-assisted technologies when AI has contributed materially to the preparation, analysis, generation, or presentation of the manuscript.

The disclosure should identify:

1. the AI tool or system used;
2. the purpose for which it was used; and
3. where appropriate, the extent or nature of its contribution.

For example:

Artificial Intelligence Disclosure: During the preparation of this manuscript, the authors used [name of AI tool] for [language editing/translation/data analysis/figure preparation/etc.]. The authors reviewed and verified all AI-assisted content and take full responsibility for the accuracy, integrity, and originality of the submitted work.

When AI has been used for data analysis, data processing, image generation or modification, statistical analysis, or other scientific procedures, the authors should describe the use in the relevant Materials and Methods or equivalent section of the manuscript.

Routine use of conventional spelling or grammar software that does not generate substantive content generally does not require a separate disclosure, although authors remain responsible for the final manuscript.

7. AI-Generated Images and Figures

Authors must disclose the use of generative AI to create, modify, enhance, or substantially alter images, figures, graphical abstracts, or other visual material.

AI-generated or AI-modified images must not misrepresent experimental findings or scientific evidence.

In particular, AI must not be used to:

• fabricate experimental images;
• add, remove, or alter research findings;
• manipulate microscopy, radiography, histology, electrophoresis, or other scientific images in a misleading manner;
• create apparently authentic experimental results that did not occur.

Authors must ensure that the use of AI complies with copyright, licensing, and other applicable requirements.

Editors may request additional information concerning the origin or processing of an image or figure.

8. AI in Data Analysis and Research

AI may be used as a research or analytical tool when scientifically justified and appropriately validated.

When AI contributes to data analysis, authors should provide sufficient information to allow readers and editors to understand its role, including, where relevant:

• the AI system or software used;
• version or model information;
• the purpose of the AI application;
• relevant parameters or prompts where scientifically necessary;
• the data processed;
• validation or quality-control procedures; and
• how the authors verified the resulting outputs.

AI-generated outputs must not be treated as inherently accurate or authoritative.

9. Fabrication, Falsification, and Misrepresentation

The use of AI to fabricate, falsify, manipulate, or misrepresent research constitutes a serious breach of publication ethics.

Examples include, but are not limited to:

• fabricated data;
• fabricated references;
• fabricated quotations;
• fabricated experimental observations;
• manipulated scientific images;
• invented statistical results;
• false claims regarding the use of methods or materials;
• presenting AI-generated material as original human work without appropriate disclosure when disclosure is required.

Such conduct may result in rejection, correction, retraction, or other editorial action in accordance with the journal's publication ethics policies.

10. Plagiarism, Copyright, and Intellectual Property

Authors remain responsible for ensuring that AI-assisted content does not infringe copyright or other intellectual property rights.

AI-generated text or images may resemble existing copyrighted material or may contain material derived from sources without appropriate attribution.

Authors must therefore:

• verify the originality of submitted content;
• provide appropriate citations and attribution;
• obtain permissions where required;
• avoid reproducing copyrighted material without authorization;
• ensure that AI-generated references are genuine and accurately cited.

AI-generated content must not be used as a substitute for proper citation of the original scientific literature.

11. Confidentiality and Sensitive Information

Authors, reviewers, editors, and editorial staff must exercise caution when using AI systems.

Unpublished manuscripts, confidential peer-review materials, proprietary information, personal data, patient information, research participant information, or other confidential material must not be uploaded to an AI system unless confidentiality and data protection can be adequately assured and such use is permitted.

Reviewers and editors must not upload manuscripts or confidential peer-review information into public or third-party AI systems that do not provide adequate confidentiality protections.

The confidentiality of the peer-review process must be maintained at all times.

12. AI Use by Peer Reviewers

Peer reviewers may use AI-assisted tools for limited purposes only when such use is consistent with confidentiality and the journal's policies.

Reviewers must not upload a submitted manuscript or any confidential manuscript material into an AI system where confidentiality cannot be assured.

AI must not replace the reviewer's independent scientific judgment.

Reviewers remain fully responsible for their reports and must independently evaluate the scientific validity, originality, methodology, interpretation, and presentation of the manuscript.

Reviewers should disclose material use of AI in preparing a peer-review report when requested by the journal.

13. AI Use by Editors and Editorial Staff

Editors and editorial staff may use appropriate AI-assisted tools for administrative or editorial purposes, provided that such use does not compromise confidentiality, editorial independence, research integrity, or the rights of authors.

AI may assist with tasks such as language editing, formatting, administrative processing, or identification of potential issues.

However, editorial decisions must remain under human responsibility.

AI tools must not independently determine acceptance, rejection, retraction, or other substantive editorial decisions.

14. Editorial Screening and AI Detection

This journal may use appropriate software and AI-assisted technologies as part of manuscript screening, quality control, plagiarism checking, image screening, and research-integrity assessment.

As part of its editorial screening process, this journal uses the AI Content Detector powered by Winston to assess manuscripts for potential AI-generated or AI-assisted content. The results of this screening may be considered by editors when evaluating compliance with the journal's AI policy.

However, AI-detection scores or AI-content estimates are considered screening indicators and will not, by themselves, be treated as conclusive evidence of inappropriate AI use, academic misconduct, or research misconduct.

AI-detection technologies may produce false-positive and false-negative results, and their findings therefore require appropriate editorial interpretation. A high AI-detection score does not necessarily establish that a manuscript has been improperly generated by AI, while a low score does not necessarily establish that AI has not been used.

Where an AI-detection result raises a reasonable concern, the editorial team may conduct additional assessment, request clarification or an AI-use disclosure from the authors, examine the manuscript and its supporting materials, or take other appropriate editorial steps.

Authors may be asked to explain the use of AI-assisted technologies and, where applicable, provide details regarding the AI tools used and their contribution to the manuscript. Failure to provide a satisfactory explanation or disclosure when required may be considered in accordance with the journal's publication ethics and AI policies.

The final editorial assessment remains the responsibility of the journal's editors and is not determined solely by an automated AI-detection score.

15. Failure to Disclose AI Use

Failure to disclose material use of AI when disclosure is required may constitute a breach of the journal's publication policies.

Where appropriate, the editorial team may request an explanation from the authors and may take corrective action in accordance with the journal's publication ethics procedures.

Possible actions may include:

• requesting clarification or additional disclosure;
• requiring revision of the manuscript;
• rejection of a manuscript;
• publication of a correction or clarification;
• retraction of a published article in serious cases; or
• other appropriate editorial or ethical action.

The action taken will depend on the nature and seriousness of the concern.

16. Responsibility of Authors

By submitting a manuscript to this journal, authors confirm that:

• they have reviewed the entire manuscript;
• all authors accept responsibility for the submitted work;
• AI-assisted content, where applicable, has been appropriately reviewed and disclosed;
• the manuscript does not contain fabricated or falsified information;
• references and citations have been verified;
• the manuscript does not knowingly infringe copyright or other intellectual property rights;
• confidential or sensitive information has not been improperly disclosed to AI systems; and
• the final manuscript represents the authors' scientific work and judgment.

17. Editorial Discretion

We reserve the right to request additional information about the use of AI during manuscript submission, peer review, production, or after publication.

The editors may require authors to provide further details concerning AI-generated text, images, data analysis, code, figures, or other AI-assisted material where necessary to assess research integrity, transparency, or compliance with this policy.

18. Policy Updates

Because AI technologies and standards for responsible scholarly use are rapidly evolving, we may periodically revise this policy to reflect developments in research integrity, publication ethics, copyright, data protection, and recommendations from recognized scholarly organizations.

Authors, reviewers, editors, and editorial board members are expected to comply with the version of the policy applicable at the time of their involvement in the publication process.

19. Applicable Guidance

This policy is informed by internationally recognized principles and guidance concerning responsible use of AI in scholarly publishing, including recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) and guidance from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

We encourage authors, reviewers, and editors to consult current guidance from these organizations as AI technologies and publication standards continue to develop.

Last updated: August 2026