Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy
1. Purpose and Scope
This policy establishes ethical, transparent, and responsible guidelines for the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools throughout all stages of the publication process at IJIEFER — including manuscript preparation, submission, peer review, editorial decision-making, and final publication. It aims to ensure integrity, accountability, and scholarly authenticity in all AI-assisted activities.
The policy applies to all parties involved in the journal’s operations, including authors, reviewers, editors, and the publisher. It ensures that AI technologies are used only to enhance the quality and efficiency of scholarly work — not to replace human judgment, critical thinking, or authorship responsibility.
2. Definitions
AI Tools:
Software, platforms, or applications that enable automated or semi-automated assistance in tasks such as text generation, language editing, summarization, translation, visual content creation, reference management, or data analysis. Examples include tools like Grammarly, ChatGPT, DeepL, and QuillBot when used appropriately for linguistic or stylistic support.
Generative AI:
Artificial intelligence systems capable of producing original text, images, data, code, or other content based on user prompts without direct human authorship or intellectual contribution. Examples include ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Claude, and Midjourney.
AI-Assisted Writing:
The use of AI tools to improve grammar, spelling, readability, or linguistic clarity of a manuscript under human supervision. The author remains fully responsible for the intellectual content and accuracy of the text.
AI-Assisted Data Analysis:
The use of AI-based statistical or computational tools to process, visualize, or interpret data, provided such use is transparent, verifiable, and does not involve data fabrication or falsification.
AI-Generated Content:
Any text, image, table, dataset, or other material produced wholly or substantially by an AI tool without meaningful human modification or oversight. Such content must not be presented as original scholarly contribution.
Disclosure Statement:
A mandatory section within the manuscript (e.g., under “Acknowledgments” or “Author Contributions”) where authors must declare the use of any AI tools, specifying the tool name, version, purpose, and extent of assistance.
Generative AI: AI systems that produce content based on user prompts without direct human authorship.
3. AI Use by Authors
Authors may utilize AI tools for language editing, grammar correction, summarization, data visualization, reference organization, and image enhancement, provided that the following conditions are met:
a. Full Disclosure:
All uses of AI tools must be transparently declared in a designated section of the manuscript (e.g., Acknowledgments or Author Contributions), specifying the tool name, version, purpose, and extent of AI assistance.
b. Human Oversight:
Authors bear full responsibility for the accuracy, validity, and ethical integrity of all content, including any portion developed with AI assistance. AI outputs must always be critically reviewed and verified by the authors.
c. AI Authorship Exclusion:
AI tools or systems must not be listed as authors or co-authors under any circumstance.
The use of AI-generated content for original research, data creation, or analysis without rigorous human validation is strictly prohibited. Any undisclosed, misleading, or unethical use of AI may result in manuscript rejection, retraction, or disciplinary action in accordance with IJIEFER’s publication ethics policy.
Use of AI-generated content for original research, data fabrication, or results analysis without rigorous human verification is prohibited.
Undisclosed or unethical use of AI may lead to manuscript rejection, retraction, or sanctions consistent with IJIEFER's publication ethics.
4. Use of AI by Reviewers
Reviewers may use AI tools only to enhance the language, grammar, or structure of their review reports, provided that the following principles are observed:
a. Confidentiality Protection:
Reviewers must not upload, input, or share any part of a submitted manuscript, reviewer report, or associated data into AI tools or platforms, as this may breach confidentiality and data protection obligations.
b. Human Judgment:
AI tools must not replace or influence the reviewer’s own professional and scholarly judgment in assessing the quality, originality, or contribution of the manuscript.
c. Ethical Vigilance:
If a reviewer suspects possible misuse of AI or detects fabricated, manipulated, or AI-generated content in a manuscript, they should immediately notify the handling editor.
Reviewers must safeguard confidentiality by not inputting submitted manuscripts or proprietary data into AI platforms.
AI must not substitute the reviewers’ expert judgment in evaluating the scientific or intellectual merit of manuscripts.
Reviewers should alert editors if they suspect unethical AI use or fabrication by authors.
5. Use of AI by Editors and Staff
Editors and editorial staff may utilize AI tools only to support administrative and operational functions—such as workflow tracking, similarity checks, grammar improvement in correspondence, and scheduling—provided that the following principles are upheld:
a. Editorial Responsibility:
AI tools must not be used to make or influence editorial decisions regarding manuscript acceptance, rejection, or reviewer recommendations. All editorial judgments must remain the sole responsibility of human editors.
b. Confidentiality and Data Protection:
Editors and staff must never upload, share, or process any unpublished manuscript, reviewer report, or author data through AI platforms, as this would violate confidentiality obligations.
c. Compliance Oversight:
Editors are responsible for ensuring that all manuscripts and reviews comply with this AI policy, including the disclosure of AI use by authors and reviewers.
d. Appropriate Use Examples:
Permissible AI applications include grammar refinement (e.g., Grammarly), workflow analytics, plagiarism detection, or automated reminder systems that do not process confidential manuscript content.
Manuscript confidentiality must be strictly maintained; unpublished manuscripts must never be uploaded to AI systems.
Editors are responsible for verifying compliance with this AI policy during submission and review processes.
6. Transparency, Verification, and Ethical Standards
IJIEFER is committed to ethical transparency and accountability in all uses of AI across the publication process. All stakeholders — authors, reviewers, and editors — are required to uphold the highest standards of integrity when using AI tools.
a. Transparency:
All AI use must be explicitly declared in the manuscript (e.g., Acknowledgments or Author Contributions section), detailing the tool(s) used, version, and purpose. Undisclosed use of AI constitutes a breach of publication ethics.
b. Verification and Quality Assurance:
All submissions are subject to human verification and editorial scrutiny to detect fabricated, manipulated, or unverified AI-generated content. Manuscripts may be screened using AI-detection or forensic tools where necessary, with final assessments made by human editors.
c. Ethical and Legal Compliance:
Authors and editors must ensure that AI-assisted outputs respect data privacy, avoid algorithmic bias, and uphold intellectual property rights. Any AI-assisted material must comply with copyright and ethical research standards.
d. Accountability:
Responsibility for all content — including AI-assisted sections — rests solely with the human authors and editors involved. Failure to adhere to these standards may result in rejection, retraction, or sanctions in line with IJIEFER’s publication ethics policy.
Manuscripts will undergo human verification to identify unsupported or fabricated AI content and ensure adherence to scientific quality.
Ethical considerations including data privacy, bias avoidance, and respect for intellectual property rights must be strictly observed.
7. AI Disclosure Statement Requirement
Authors are required to include a formal AI Use Statement at the time of manuscript submission, clearly describing any use of AI tools in the preparation of their work. The statement must specify the tool name, version, and the purpose for which it was used (e.g., language editing, data visualization, or image enhancement).
An example statement is as follows:
“Portions of this manuscript were assisted by [AI tool name, version], which was used for [specific purpose, e.g., language editing or figure enhancement]. All AI-assisted content has been reviewed, verified, and approved by the authors, who take full responsibility for its accuracy and integrity.”
Failure to provide an AI Use Statement when applicable may be considered a breach of IJIEFER’s publication ethics policy and may result in manuscript rejection or retraction.
8. Compliance and Enforcement
IJIEFER upholds strict compliance with this AI policy to ensure academic integrity and ethical scholarship. Any breach — including undisclosed or inappropriate use of AI tools — will be investigated in accordance with IJIEFER’s publication ethics procedures.
Where violations are confirmed, the Editorial Board may apply appropriate remedies, including manuscript rejection, retraction, correction, or temporary/permanent bans on future submissions.
IJIEFER reserves the right to revise or expand this policy periodically to reflect emerging developments in AI technology, scholarly publishing standards, and ethical best practices.
IJIEFER reserves the right to update this policy as AI technologies and academic standards evolve.
