Use of Artificial Intelligence
Use of Artificial Intelligence in Manuscripts, Figures and Review
Generative artificial intelligence is now a routine research and writing tool, and IJCIE publishes research on such systems. The journal's position is not to prohibit these tools, but to require that their use is declared, that responsibility remains human, and that nothing produced by a machine is allowed into the record unverified.
1. AI cannot be an author
A generative AI system cannot be listed as an author or co-author. Authorship requires accountability for the work and the ability to approve the final version and respond to challenges, which a software system cannot do. Named authors carry full responsibility for every sentence, number, figure and reference in the manuscript, including any part drafted with AI assistance.
2. Declaration required
Where generative AI has been used in the preparation of the manuscript, a statement must appear in a section headed "Use of AI Tools" before the references, naming the tool and version, and describing what it was used for. Example:
"During the preparation of this manuscript the authors used [tool, version] for language editing of the Introduction and Discussion. The authors reviewed and edited the output and take full responsibility for the content of the publication."
Use of ordinary spelling and grammar checkers, reference managers, statistical software and established analysis libraries does not need to be declared.
3. Use in the research itself
Where an AI system is part of the methodology – for example a large language model used to label data, generate code or produce results – it must be described in the Methodology section with the model name, version, access date, prompting strategy and any parameters, in enough detail for the work to be reproduced. This is a methodological requirement, not merely a declaration.
4. Figures and images
- Generative AI must not be used to create, alter, enhance or "clean up" figures that report experimental results, including plots, micrographs, photographs and scans.
- AI-generated illustrative or conceptual graphics are permitted only if the caption states clearly that the image was generated with AI, naming the tool.
- Any manipulation of an image beyond uniform adjustment of brightness or contrast applied to the whole image must be disclosed, and the original must be available on request.
- The authors must hold the rights necessary to publish any AI-generated image under CC BY-SA 4.0.
5. References and facts
Generative models produce plausible but non-existent citations. Authors must verify that every reference exists, is correctly attributed and actually supports the statement it is cited for. Fabricated references discovered during review lead to rejection; discovered after publication, they are treated as misconduct and may lead to retraction.
6. Reviewers and editors
A manuscript under review is a confidential document. Reviewers and editors must not upload any part of a manuscript, or their review of it, to an external generative AI service, since doing so discloses confidential material to a third party. Reviews must represent the reviewer's own assessment; an AI system may not generate the review. Limited use of AI for language polishing of the reviewer's own words requires the editor's prior agreement.
7. Screening and consequences
Submissions are screened for machine-generated content; the threshold applied is stated in the Plagiarism Policy. Undeclared substantive use of AI, fabricated content, or AI-manipulated result figures are handled under the Article Correction, Retraction and Misconduct Policy.
8. Review of this policy
This policy is reviewed at least annually to keep pace with the technology and with emerging community standards.
