AI Policy

1. Policy for Authors

  • Non-Author Status of AI Tools
    AI tools or Large Language Models (LLMs) do not meet the criteria for authorship. AI cannot take legal or ethical responsibility for the content, accuracy, integrity of data, copyright licensing, or potential conflicts of interest. Full responsibility for all content submitted remains entirely with the human author(s).
  • Permissible Use
    Authors are permitted to utilize AI and AI-assisted technologies strictly to:
    • Assist with grammar checking, spelling, copyediting, and improving language clarity (proofreading).
    • Brainstorm initial concepts, outline structures, or format citations.
  • Prohibited Use
    Authors are strictly prohibited from using AI tools to:
    • Generate synthetic research data, fabricate experimental results, or manipulate scientific images.
    • Produce substantial portions of the text (such as primary analysis, critical arguments, or core conclusions) without original human writing, critical synthesis, and oversight.
    • Generate inaccurate, fake, or hallucinated academic references/citations.
  • Mandatory Disclosure
    If authors use AI tools in the preparation of their manuscript (beyond basic spelling and grammar proofreading), they must explicitly declare the usage in the Declarations or Acknowledgements section of the manuscript prior to the References list using the following format:
    Declaration of Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies in Writing:
    "During the preparation of this work, the author(s) used [Name of Tool/Version] in order to [reason/purpose, e.g., improve language readability and grammar]. After using this tool/service, the author(s) reviewed, edited, and take full responsibility for the final content of the manuscript."

2. Policy for Peer Reviewers

  • Confidentiality and Data Protection
    Reviewers must not upload manuscripts or any part of submitted works into public AI tools or generative AI platforms. Doing so violates the confidentiality of the peer-review process, compromises proprietary data, and infringes upon the authors' copyright and intellectual property.
  • Human Judgment in Reviewing
    Review reports must represent the reviewer's own independent evaluation, critical analysis, and scholarly expertise. Reviewers are prohibited from relying on generative AI to automatically generate peer-review reports.

3. Policy for Editors

  • Confidentiality Maintenance
    Editors must not upload submitted manuscripts into external AI tools for summarization, preliminary evaluations, or editorial decision-making, to safeguard the confidentiality of unpublished research.
  • Use of Automated Screening Tools
    Editors reserve the right to use AI-detection software and similarity check tools (such as Turnitin or iThenticate) as part of the initial screening for ethics and originality. However, all final editorial decisions will be guided by human judgment (human-in-the-loop).

4. Policy Violations and Misconduct

If an undisclosed or inappropriate use of AI tools is detected (including data fabrication, deceptive narrative generation, or failure to declare AI usage), the Editorial Office reserves the right to:

  1. Reject the manuscript immediately at the initial desk-evaluation stage.
  2. Request a formal explanation and comprehensive manual revisions from the authors.
  3. Issue a formal retraction if non-compliance or ethical misconduct is proven after publication.