Artificial Intelligance (AI) Policy

For Authors

• Authors may use generative AI tools (such as ChatGPT, Grammarly AI, DeepL Write, and similar) solely to assist with language editing, sentence structure, or improving text readability.
• AI must not be used to generate scientific ideas, design methodology, analyse data, interpret research results, or draw conclusions. All substantive intellectual contributions must come from human authors.
• Generative AI must not be listed as an author or co-author of any article, as it cannot bear academic or legal responsibility for the content of the article.
• Any use of generative AI must be explicitly disclosed through a statement at the end of the manuscript ("Declaration of Generative AI Use"), stating the name of the tool, the purpose of use, and the part of the manuscript involved.
• Authors take full responsibility for the accuracy, originality, and integrity of the entire manuscript, including sections edited with AI assistance.

For Reviewers

• Reviewers are permitted to use generative AI tools to assist the review process, for example to summarise manuscript sections, check methodological consistency, help structure review notes, or check the grammar of comments to be sent to authors.
• Reviewers remain fully responsible for the accuracy and validity of all review comments and recommendations submitted, including AI assisted portions. The final assessment of a manuscript's scientific quality must reflect the reviewer's own academic judgement, not be simply copied from AI output.
• Reviewers are advised to exercise caution when entering manuscript content into public AI tools, given that the manuscript is still unpublished. Where possible, use AI services that guarantee input data is not used for model training, or avoid uploading highly sensitive primary data or findings in full.

For the Editorial Team

• The editorial team may use AI as a limited administrative aid, for example grammar checking in editorial correspondence, but not for making editorial decisions (acceptance, rejection, or revision requests), which must remain entirely based on human judgement.
• The editorial team reserves the right to request further clarification from authors if undisclosed AI use is suspected, or if there are indications of content entirely generated by AI without adequate human intellectual contribution.

Consequences of Violation

Manuscripts found to have used generative AI to produce data, scientific ideas, or conclusions without honest disclosure will be treated as an academic integrity violation. This may result in manuscript rejection, or retraction if the violation is discovered after publication, in accordance with the journal's Article Retraction and Withdrawal Policy and the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines.