AI Policy for the Journal of Social and Scientific Education

Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools, including large language models (LLMs) and multimodal models, are rapidly evolving and finding applications across business, consumer, and academic sectors.

The Journal of Social and Scientific Education acknowledges the potential opportunities presented by Generative AI tools. These include facilitating initial idea generation and exploration, assisting authors in articulating content in a non-native language, and accelerating the research and dissemination process.

However, the Journal also recognizes the significant risks inherent in current Generative AI technologies. This policy guides authors, editors, and reviewers to ensure the responsible and ethical use of these tools, upholding the core values of academic integrity, accuracy, and originality essential to social and scientific education.

Generative AI tools (such as ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, Claude, DALL-E, Midjourney, etc.) can produce diverse content forms, including text, images, audio, and synthetic data. Their use in a scholarly context must be governed by stringent ethical standards.

Primary risks associated with contemporary Generative AI tools include:

  • Inaccuracy and Bias: As statistically driven systems, Generative AI tools can introduce inaccuracies, falsities ("hallucinations"), or biases that are difficult to detect, verify, and correct, posing a particular threat to scientific and educational rigor.

  • Lack of Attribution: These tools often fail to adhere to the scholarly convention of accurately attributing ideas, quotes, and citations, potentially leading to plagiarism and misrepresentation of intellectual property.

  • Confidentiality and Intellectual Property Risks: Presently, many Generative AI tools operate on third-party platforms that may not provide adequate standards of confidentiality, data security, or copyright protection for unpublished scholarly work.

  • Unauthorized Data Use: AI providers may repurpose user-inputted or outputted data for model training, potentially infringing upon the rights of authors and publishers.

For Authors

Authors are ultimately accountable for the originality, validity, and integrity of their submissions. The use of Generative AI tools is expected to be responsible, transparent, and in strict adherence to the Journal's policies on authorship and publishing ethics.

Permissible Uses (with Caution and Oversight):

  • Idea generation and initial exploration.
  • Language polishing and editing for clarity (particularly for non-native speakers).
  • Preliminary literature classification.
  • Coding assistance for data analysis.

Authors are required to critically review, verify, and revise any AI-generated output thoroughly. Scientific accuracy and methodological soundness remain a fundamental human responsibility.

Generative AI tools must not be listed as an author. Authorship entails accountability for the work's content, consent to publication via a licensing agreement, and the ability to manage copyright and licensing terms, responsibilities that AI tools cannot undertake.

Transparency Disclosure Requirement:
Authors must explicitly acknowledge any use of Generative AI tools within their manuscript via a statement that includes:

  • The full name and version number of the tool used (e.g., ChatGPT-4).
  • A description of how the tool was used.
  • The purpose of its use.

For article submissions, this declaration must be placed in the Methods or Acknowledgments section. This transparency allows editors and readers to assess the extent and nature of AI use appropriately.

Prohibited Uses:

  • Text or Code Generation without Rigorous Human Revision: AI must not be used to draft substantial portions of the manuscript without significant intellectual input and critical amendment by the author(s).

  • Synthetic Data Generation: AI must not be used to generate or substitute missing research data without a robust, transparent methodology explicitly detailed in the manuscript.

  • Creation of Images, Figures, and Research Data: The Journal of Social and Scientific Education currently prohibits the use of Generative AI to create or manipulate images, figures, charts, data tables, medical imagery, computer code, formulas, or original research data for publication.

  • Generation of Abstracts or Supplemental Materials: AI must not be used to produce abstracts or supplementary materials that circumvent authorial responsibility.

All use of AI must be undertaken with stringent human oversight and full transparency.

For Editors and Peer Reviewers

The Journal of Social and Scientific Education is committed to the highest standards of editorial integrity and confidentiality.

Editors and Peer Reviewers are strictly prohibited from uploading any unpublished manuscripts, associated files, images, or information into Generative AI tools. Such actions breach confidentiality, violate intellectual property rights, and compromise the peer review process.

Peer Reviewers are selected for their subject expertise and are expected to provide original, critical assessments. The use of AI to analyze, summarize, or draft reviews of submitted manuscripts is not permitted. The sole exception is for language polishing of the review itself (e.g., for non-native English speakers), on the condition that the reviewer remains entirely responsible for the accuracy, content, and integrity of their assessment.

Failure to comply with this policy may result in corrective actions.

This policy will be subject to ongoing review and revision as AI technologies and scholarly ethics guidelines continue to evolve.