Policy on the Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Academic Publishing

Ainara Journal (Jurnal Penelitian dan PKM Bidang Ilmu Pendidikan)

1. Scope and General Principles

Ainara Journal recognizes that Artificial Intelligence (AI), including Generative Artificial Intelligence (Generative AI/GenAI), can support research, academic writing, editing, and scholarly publishing when used responsibly.

This policy applies to all parties involved in the publication process, including authors, editors, reviewers, and journal staff.

The use of AI must adhere to the principles of:

1. Transparency — substantive AI use must be clearly disclosed;
2. Human accountability — scientific responsibility cannot be delegated to AI;
3. Research integrity — AI must not be used for fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, or manipulation of research results;
4. Confidentiality and data protection — manuscripts, personal information, sensitive research data, and peer-review materials must remain protected; and
5. Human oversight — AI-generated outputs must be critically reviewed and verified by humans.

AI may serve only as a supporting tool and must not replace human critical thinking, scholarly expertise, scientific interpretation, or decision-making.

2. Definitions

2.1 Generative Artificial Intelligence

Generative AI refers to artificial intelligence technologies capable of generating or modifying content such as text, images, audio, code, synthetic data, or other forms of content based on user input.

These technologies include, but are not limited to, Large Language Models and generative AI services such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Microsoft Copilot, DALL·E, Midjourney, Stable Diffusion, and similar technologies.

2.2 AI-Assisted Technologies

AI-assisted technologies are AI-based tools used to support human activities, including language editing, translation, information organization, data analysis, programming, and other supporting tasks.

The use of such technologies does not reduce the user's responsibility to verify the accuracy and integrity of their outputs.

3. AI and Authorship

Ainara Journal does not recognize AI systems, Generative AI, Large Language Models, chatbots, or other AI-based technologies as authors or co-authors.

Authorship requires the ability to make intellectual contributions, approve the final manuscript, assume responsibility for the integrity and accuracy of the work, manage conflicts of interest, and respond to questions concerning the published work.

Because AI systems cannot fulfill these responsibilities, they must not be listed as authors or treated as entities accountable for scholarly work.

Full responsibility for the manuscript remains with the human authors.

4. Use of AI by Authors

Ainara Journal permits the responsible use of Generative AI and AI-assisted technologies as supporting tools, provided that they do not replace the authors' intellectual contributions or scholarly judgment.

AI may be used, subject to human review and verification, to support activities such as:

• improving language clarity and readability;
• editing sentence structure;
• translation;
• suggesting organizational structures;
• identifying potential keywords;
• organizing literature;
• assisting with programming or coding;
• supporting exploratory data processing where methodologically appropriate; and
• other technical activities related to manuscript preparation.

Authors must critically review and verify all AI-generated outputs before incorporating them into their manuscripts.

AI-generated information must not be treated as an authoritative scientific source. Facts, quotations, references, DOIs, analytical results, and other information must be verified against original and reliable sources.

5. AI Use Requiring Disclosure

Authors must disclose substantive use of Generative AI when it contributes materially to the manuscript or research process, including when AI is used to:

• generate or substantially develop manuscript text;
• summarize or synthesize literature;
• support the development of arguments or conceptual structures;
• perform substantive translation;
• generate or modify research code;
• assist with data analysis or interpretation;
• generate or modify tables, diagrams, illustrations, or visual materials; or
• perform other activities that may influence the scientific substance of the manuscript.

When AI forms part of the research methodology, its use must also be described adequately in the Methods section to support transparency and, where relevant, reproducibility.

6. AI Use That Does Not Require Disclosure

Basic automated functions that perform only mechanical or technical corrections generally do not require an AI declaration, including:

• spelling checks;
• punctuation checks;
• basic grammar correction;
• standard reference-management functions; and
• technical formatting that does not generate or substantively alter scientific content.

However, when an AI system makes substantive changes to the content, argumentation, interpretation, structure, or organization of a manuscript, its use must be disclosed.

7. Prohibited Uses of AI

Ainara Journal prohibits the use of AI to:

1. fabricate research data presented as genuine empirical observations;
2. falsify or manipulate research data to obtain desired results;
3. create analyses that were never actually conducted;
4. fabricate references, DOIs, quotations, or scientific sources;
5. present unverified AI-generated information as scientific fact;
6. conceal plagiarism or copyright infringement;
7. replace the authors' primary intellectual contribution;
8. generate scientific conclusions without critical human evaluation;
9. manipulate research images or evidence in ways that alter the integrity or interpretation of the original data; or
10. conceal AI use that should have been disclosed under this policy.

The use of AI does not absolve authors from responsibility for errors, bias, fabricated information, false references, or ethical violations contained in their manuscripts.

8. AI-Generated References and Citations

Authors are fully responsible for verifying every reference obtained or recommended through AI systems.

Authors must verify the existence and accuracy of the source, authors, title, journal or publisher, publication details, DOI or URL, and whether the cited source genuinely supports the associated claim.

AI-generated or AI-recommended references must not be included in a manuscript without verification against the original publication source.

Fabricated or non-existent references may result in requests for clarification, research-integrity assessment, or rejection of the manuscript.

9. AI-Generated Images, Figures, and Artwork

Generative AI must not be used to create or manipulate images that serve as research data or scientific evidence where such generation or modification could alter the interpretation of the research findings.

AI-assisted conceptual diagrams, illustrations, graphical abstracts, or other non-data visual materials may be considered only when their use:

• does not mislead readers;
• does not infringe copyright or third-party rights;
• does not represent fabricated data;
• has been verified by the authors; and
• is transparently disclosed.

Where AI has been used to generate or modify an image, the tool and nature of its use should be disclosed in the figure caption or AI declaration.

Editors may request original files, source data, or documentation concerning the production of visual materials when necessary.

10. Mandatory AI Declaration

When Generative AI has been used substantively in manuscript preparation, authors must include a separate section immediately before the References, entitled:

Declaration of Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies in the Manuscript Preparation Process

Recommended declaration:

During the preparation of this manuscript, the author(s) used [name and version of AI tool/service] for [describe the purpose]. Following the use of this tool/service, the author(s) reviewed, verified, and edited all outputs incorporated into the manuscript. All scientific analyses, interpretations, arguments, and conclusions remain the responsibility of the author(s). The author(s) take full responsibility for the accuracy, originality, and integrity of the published content.

Where AI has been used as part of the research process or data analysis, appropriate methodological details must additionally be provided in the Methods section.

11. Use of AI by Reviewers

Submitted manuscripts are confidential documents.

Reviewers must not upload a submitted manuscript or any part of it, including figures, tables, data, supplementary materials, or unpublished information, to public Generative AI services or AI systems that do not provide adequate confidentiality protections.

Reviewers must not delegate scientific assessment to AI.

AI must not replace human evaluation of:

• research novelty;
• methodology;
• validity of data;
• interpretation of findings;
• scientific contribution; or
• the reviewer's final recommendation.

Limited AI assistance may be used to improve the language or organization of a review report provided that no confidential manuscript information is disclosed and the reviewer retains full responsibility for the report.

Substantive AI assistance in preparing a review report must be disclosed to the editor.

12. Use of AI by Editors

Editors remain fully accountable for editorial evaluation and decision-making.

Editors must not upload unpublished manuscripts or any part thereof to public AI services or AI systems that do not provide adequate confidentiality protection.

AI must not independently determine:

• desk rejection;
• acceptance;
• revision decisions;
• scientific evaluation; or
• final assessments of research quality and integrity.

AI may be used in limited administrative or technical supporting roles when manuscript confidentiality is maintained.

Final editorial decisions must always be made and assumed by human editors.

13. Confidentiality, Privacy, and Data Protection

Authors, reviewers, and editors must carefully consider the privacy policies and terms of service of any AI technologies they use.

The following information must not be submitted to public AI systems or services without adequate confidentiality protection:

• unpublished manuscripts;
• reviewer identities;
• confidential peer-review reports;
• personally identifiable participant information;
• sensitive research data;
• information protected by confidentiality agreements; and
• materials for which the user does not possess appropriate usage rights.

Users remain responsible for ensuring that their use of AI does not violate privacy, confidentiality, intellectual-property rights, or third-party rights.

14. AI Detection

Ainara Journal does not make editorial decisions solely on the basis of an AI-content detector, AI-generated percentage, or other automated detection score.

Where such tools are used, their outputs will be treated only as preliminary indicators and must be accompanied by human evaluation and other supporting evidence.

Editors may request clarification regarding authors' writing processes, data, sources, analytical methods, references, or AI use where reasonable concerns require further verification.

15. Handling Suspected Violations

Suspected violations of this policy may be investigated in accordance with Ainara Journal's publication-ethics and research-integrity procedures.

The journal may:

• request clarification from the authors;
• request an AI-use declaration;
• request raw data or supporting documentation;
• verify references and sources;
• request previous manuscript versions or relevant documentation;
• conduct additional assessments of data or image integrity; and
• seek clarification from the authors' institution where appropriate.

Confirmed violations may result in manuscript rejection, termination of peer review, correction, expression of concern, article retraction, or other actions proportionate to the nature and severity of the violation and consistent with applicable publication-ethics guidelines.

16. Authors' Final Responsibility

The use of AI does not diminish authors' responsibility for manuscripts submitted to Ainara Journal.

By submitting a manuscript, all authors confirm that they:

• have read and approved the manuscript;
• have verified the accuracy of its data and information;
• have verified all references and citations;
• are responsible for the originality of the work;
• have disclosed AI use where required; and
• accept full responsibility for the scientific integrity of the article.

AI may assist scholarly work, but scientific responsibility and accountability remain human.

17. Policy Review and Updates

AI technologies and standards for responsible scholarly publishing continue to evolve rapidly. Ainara Journal therefore reserves the right to periodically review and update this policy in response to developments in technology, regulation, publication ethics, and international scholarly-publishing standards.

This policy has been developed with reference to principles and guidance provided by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), Elsevier, Springer Nature, Wiley, and internationally recognized practices concerning the responsible use of artificial intelligence in scholarly communication.