AI Ethics & Procedure

Responsible, Transparent, and Ethical Use of Artificial Intelligence in Scholarly Publishing

JURIBMAS recognizes that artificial intelligence (AI), including generative AI and AI-assisted writing tools, may support certain aspects of academic writing, data analysis, and editorial workflows. However, the use of these technologies must not compromise research integrity, originality, accuracy, confidentiality, or accountability.

This policy establishes principles and procedures for the responsible use of AI by authors, editors, and reviewers. Human authors and editorial decision-makers remain responsible for their respective work and decisions.

1. General Principles

All parties involved in JURIBMAS publications must observe the following principles:

• Transparency: Disclose material AI assistance in accordance with this policy.
• Human accountability: Humans remain responsible for the accuracy, integrity, and originality of submitted and published work.
• Accuracy: Verify AI-assisted statements, references, calculations, data, and other outputs before use.
• Originality: AI must not be used to conceal plagiarism, duplicate publication, fabricated evidence, or unattributed reuse.
• Confidentiality: Protect unpublished manuscripts, personal information, research data, and editorial correspondence.
• Fairness: AI-assisted processes must not replace appropriate scholarly judgment or introduce unjustified bias into editorial decisions.

2. Permitted Uses of AI by Authors

Authors may use AI tools for appropriate supporting tasks, provided that the resulting manuscript remains the authors' own scholarly responsibility. Examples include:

• Grammar, spelling, language editing, and readability improvements.
• Translation assistance, subject to verification of technical meaning and terminology.
• Organization of ideas, outlining, and improvement of manuscript structure.
• Programming assistance, code explanation, or debugging, where the authors verify the results.
• Data processing or analytical assistance when methods, inputs, assumptions, and outputs are appropriately documented and validated.
• Preparation of preliminary summaries or other supporting material that is checked against the original sources.

Permitted use does not guarantee acceptance. Authors must ensure that AI assistance is appropriate for the research method, discipline, and type of manuscript.

3. Prohibited and Unacceptable Uses

AI must not be used to:

• Fabricate, falsify, manipulate, or misrepresent research data, results, images, or evidence.
• Generate fictitious references, DOI numbers, quotations, or bibliographic information and present them as genuine.
• Copy or paraphrase protected or published material in a manner that constitutes plagiarism or infringes applicable rights.
• Conceal substantial AI-generated content where disclosure is required by this policy.
• Misrepresent the authors' qualifications, contributions, research activities, or actual analytical procedures.
• Generate deceptive images, manipulated evidence, or misleading research visualizations without appropriate disclosure and justification.
• Submit AI-generated content without meaningful human verification or claim that unverified AI output constitutes established fact.

4. AI Cannot Be an Author

AI systems and AI tools cannot be listed as authors or co-authors of manuscripts submitted to JURIBMAS because they cannot independently assume responsibility, provide accountable author declarations, or respond to ethical concerns in the manner required of human authors.

Human authors must meet the journal's authorship requirements and take responsibility for the content to which their names are attached. AI tools may be acknowledged or disclosed as appropriate, but such disclosure does not confer authorship.

5. AI Disclosure Requirements

Authors must disclose substantive use of generative AI that contributes to manuscript content, analysis, interpretation, or research outputs. Routine spelling and grammar correction or basic formatting assistance generally does not require a separate declaration unless the journal specifically requests it.

When disclosure is required, authors should identify the AI tool, its purpose, and the relevant scope of use. Authors should not include confidential information in a disclosure.

6. Verification of AI-Generated Content

Before submission, authors must:

• Verify factual claims against reliable and relevant sources.
• Check that every cited reference exists and accurately supports the associated claim.
• Confirm the validity of DOI information, author names, publication years, titles, and other bibliographic details.
• Validate calculations, code, statistical results, and analytical interpretations using appropriate methods.
• Check that tables, figures, images, and datasets accurately represent the underlying evidence.
• Ensure that AI-assisted translation or editing has not changed the meaning of technical terms or research findings.
• Review the manuscript for plagiarism, unsupported statements, bias, and inappropriate reuse of material.

7. AI Use in Data Analysis, Figures, and Images

AI-assisted analysis, image processing, or visualization must be scientifically appropriate, reproducible where applicable, and described sufficiently for readers to understand how the results were produced.

Authors must disclose material AI involvement in generating or modifying research data, figures, or images. AI-generated illustrative material must not be presented as authentic experimental evidence, field observations, medical imagery, satellite observations, or other real-world evidence.

Authors must respect copyright, licensing terms, privacy, consent, and applicable research ethics requirements. Editors may request original files, prompts, code, data, or methodological explanations when needed to assess research integrity.

8. Responsibilities of Editors

• Evaluate manuscripts according to scholarly merit, editorial policies, and publication ethics.
• Use AI-assisted editorial tools only when appropriate and consistent with confidentiality obligations.
• Retain responsibility for editorial decisions, including decisions informed by AI-assisted tools.
• Assess disclosures and investigate credible concerns about fabricated content, inaccurate references, plagiarism, or undisclosed material AI use.
• Protect manuscript information and avoid uploading confidential content to unauthorized AI systems.
• Ensure that AI-generated assessments do not replace independent editorial judgment.

9. Responsibilities of Reviewers

• Review manuscripts independently and provide evidence-based, constructive feedback.
• Do not upload unpublished manuscripts, reviewer materials, or confidential editorial correspondence to public or unauthorized AI tools.
• Do not delegate the substantive evaluation of a manuscript to AI in a way that compromises confidentiality or independent scholarly judgment.
• Verify any AI-assisted notes or suggestions before including them in a review.
• Disclose relevant use of AI when required by the journal's review procedures.
• Remain responsible for the content, fairness, and confidentiality of the submitted review.

10. AI Detection and Similarity Screening

JURIBMAS may use appropriate screening tools to assess textual similarity and investigate concerns about manuscript originality. AI-detection tools, where available, may provide supplementary information but cannot reliably establish authorship or misconduct on their own.

No manuscript should be rejected solely because an automated AI detector produces a particular score. Any concern must be assessed in context, taking into account the manuscript, available evidence, author explanations, and applicable editorial policies. Similarity screening and AI-detection assessment are distinct processes and must not be treated as interchangeable.

11. AI Ethics and Editorial Procedure

When potential violations of this policy are identified, the journal may follow the procedure below:

12. Confidentiality, Privacy, and Intellectual Property

Authors, editors, and reviewers must consider the privacy, confidentiality, security, and intellectual property implications of AI tools before using them.

• Do not submit confidential manuscripts, unpublished research data, personal information, or sensitive materials to AI systems without appropriate authorization and safeguards.
• Check the tool's data-handling terms and institutional requirements before processing sensitive information.
• Do not assume that AI-generated content is free from copyright or licensing restrictions.
• Obtain consent and permissions where required for the use of identifiable personal information or protected materials.

13. Policy Compliance and Ethical Standards

All authors, editors, and reviewers are expected to comply with this policy and the journal's related publication ethics requirements. Failure to disclose material AI use, fabricated AI-assisted content, or other substantiated misconduct may result in appropriate editorial action.

The policy should be read together with the JURIBMAS Publication Ethics, Plagiarism Policy, Peer Review Process, and Author Guidelines.

This policy is informed by relevant publication ethics guidance, including resources from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and applicable recommendations for responsible AI use in scholarly publishing.

JURIBMAS supports responsible innovation while protecting the integrity of scholarly communication.