Generative AI and AI-Assisted Tools Policy

 

The Journal of Information Technology, Cybersecurity, and Artificial Intelligence (JITCAI) recognizes that generative artificial intelligence and AI-assisted tools are increasingly used in academic workflows. These technologies may provide value when assisting with language editing, proofreading, formatting, and supporting visualization or analytical tasks.
However, their use raises critical concerns regarding authorship, originality, intellectual contribution, reproducibility, copyright, and research integrity.

This policy establishes strict guidelines for acceptable and unacceptable use of AI by authors, reviewers, and editors.

1. Acceptable Use of Generative AI by Authors

Authors may use generative AI tools only as secondary supportive tools, such as:

  • Grammar improvement and proofreading

  • Refinement of wording or readability

  • Formatting or style corrections

  • Supporting minor analytical tasks

  • Generating conceptual figures, diagrams, or images

  • Technical assistance with coding (e.g., debugging suggestions)

AI must not replace the intellectual, analytical, or scientific work of the authors.

All claims, methods, literature reviews, theoretical contributions, conclusions, and research findings must be conceived, generated, and validated by human contributors.

2. Prohibited Uses

The following actions are strictly forbidden and will result in rejection or ethical investigation:

  • Submitting manuscripts written entirely or primarily by generative AI tools

  • Using AI to generate research ideas, full paragraphs, full sections, or literature reviews as if authored by the researcher

  • Fabricating or manipulating data using AI

  • Producing false evidence or unverifiable references

  • Using AI to draft experimental results, analysis, or conclusions

  • Passing AI-generated writing as original intellectual contribution

Generative AI cannot be listed as an author, co-author, or contributor.

3. Required Disclosure

Any use of AI must be transparently disclosed in the manuscript.
Authors must include:

  1. The name of the tool used
    (e.g., ChatGPT, Copilot, Claude, Midjourney, DALL·E)

  2. The purpose and scope of use
    (e.g., “Used for grammar editing and proofreading only”)

  3. A confirmation statement
    that the authors reviewed, corrected, and verified all AI-assisted outputs.

This disclosure must appear in the Acknowledgments or in a dedicated Disclosure section.

Example acceptable disclosure:

“ChatGPT (OpenAI) was used to assist with grammar and readability revisions.
All intellectual content, data analyses, and conceptual work were completed and verified by the authors.”

4. Reproducibility and Verification

Authors remain fully responsible for:

  • Factual accuracy

  • Originality of ideas

  • Correctness of citations

  • Validity of analyses and datasets

  • Reproducibility of all research outputs

If AI was involved in generating figures, suggestions, or code, authors must be prepared to provide documentation (e.g., prompts, scripts, or workflows) upon editorial request.

Any content that cannot be independently reproduced or verified will be rejected.

5. Licensing and Copyright

Use of AI tools must respect intellectual property law. Authors must ensure that:

  • AI-generated images or text do not violate copyright

  • Generated outputs do not replicate proprietary datasets or protected designs

  • AI models are used in compliance with their terms of service

Attribution alone is not sufficient if the AI output infringes upon third-party rights.

6. Reviewers’ Use of AI Tools

Peer reviewers must exercise independent, expert judgment.

  • Reviewers may not use AI to produce automated evaluations, summaries, or decisions.

  • AI tools must not read confidential manuscript content.

  • If a reviewer uses an AI tool to support grammar or structural suggestions, this must be disclosed to the editorial office.

Unauthorized use of AI during peer review constitutes a breach of confidentiality.

7. Ethical Accountability

The use of AI does not remove or reduce ethical responsibility.

Authors, reviewers, and editors remain accountable for:

  • Originality

  • Academic honesty

  • Transparency of methodology

  • Correctness of citations

  • Avoidance of plagiarism

  • Responsible handling of sensitive or proprietary information

Any misuse of AI—intentional or not—will trigger investigation under JITCAI’s publication ethics policy.

8. Violations of This Policy

Misuse or undisclosed use of AI will result in consequences including:

  • Immediate rejection of the manuscript

  • Retraction of a published article

  • Reporting violations to authors’ institutions or funding agencies

  • Potential blacklisting from future submissions

JITCAI reserves the right to request supporting documentation or prompt logs at any point.

Our Commitment

JITCAI supports innovation and the responsible use of AI.
AI may assist in editing and improving clarity—but it cannot substitute for human scholarship, intellectual contribution, and scientific rigor.

This policy ensures that all published work upholds the highest standards of:

  • Transparency

  • Accountability

  • Academic integrity

  • Ethical research conduct

For clarification regarding this policy, please contact the editorial office.