AI Usage Policy in Scientific Writing

 

TSS supports the responsible and transparent use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies in scholarly publishing while maintaining the highest standards of research integrity, academic honesty, and publication ethics. This policy is aligned with the recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)

The use of AI technologies—including, but not limited to, Large Language Models (LLMs), AI-powered chatbots, AI writing assistants, image generators, code-generation tools, and other generative AI applications—is permitted only when their use is fully disclosed, scientifically appropriate, and does not compromise the integrity, originality, or reliability of the scholarly record.

1. Disclosure of AI Use

At the time of manuscript submission, authors must disclose any use of AI technologies during the research, writing, editing, or preparation of the manuscript. The disclosure should clearly specify:

• the name and version (where applicable) of the AI tool or application used;
• the purpose for which the AI technology was used;
• the stage(s) of the research or manuscript preparation in which AI was employed; and
• the extent to which AI contributed to the final manuscript.

AI use must be disclosed in the appropriate section of the manuscript:

• Acknowledgments – when AI has been used for language editing, grammar correction, translation, summarization, formatting, or writing assistance.
• Methods – when AI has been used for data collection, data preprocessing, coding, statistical analysis, visualization, image generation, predictive modeling, or any other research activity that could influence the methodology, results, or conclusions of the study.

Failure to disclose the use of AI may be considered a breach of publication ethics.

2. AI Cannot Be Listed as an Author

Artificial Intelligence systems, including chatbots and Large Language Models, must not be credited as authors or corresponding authors. In accordance with internationally recognized authorship criteria (e.g., ICMJE recommendations), authors must be able to:

• make substantial intellectual contributions to the research;
• critically interpret the findings;
• approve the final version of the manuscript;
• accept responsibility and accountability for all aspects of the published work; and
• respond to editorial and post-publication inquiries.

AI technologies cannot fulfill these responsibilities and therefore do not qualify for authorship.

3. Authors' Responsibilities

Authors remain fully responsible for all content submitted to TSS, including any content generated or assisted by AI technologies.

Before submission, authors must:

• verify the factual accuracy of all AI-generated content;
• critically review, revise, and edit AI-assisted text to ensure scientific accuracy and clarity;
• ensure that interpretations, conclusions, and scientific judgments are those of the authors and not generated solely by AI;
• verify that all citations, references, datasets, and Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) are accurate and correspond to authentic, verifiable sources; and
• ensure compliance with all applicable ethical, legal, copyright, privacy, and confidentiality requirements.

The use of AI does not transfer responsibility from the authors to the AI system.

4. Research Integrity and Academic Honesty

Authors are responsible for ensuring that AI-assisted content complies with accepted standards of academic integrity.

Authors must ensure that:

• the manuscript is original and represents their own scholarly work;
• the manuscript is free from plagiarism, self-plagiarism, fabrication, falsification, and other forms of research misconduct;
• AI-generated text, images, tables, code, or other materials do not infringe copyright or intellectual property rights;
• all borrowed ideas, quotations, figures, and datasets are appropriately cited; and
• Confidential, proprietary, or personally identifiable information is not uploaded into public AI systems unless such use complies with applicable legal and institutional requirements.

5. Prohibited Uses of AI

The following uses of AI are considered unacceptable:

• fabricating, falsifying, manipulating, or selectively altering research data;
• generating fictional experimental results, observations, analyses, or conclusions;
• creating fabricated references, citations, DOIs, datasets, or other non-existent scholarly sources;
• manipulating scientific images, figures, graphs, or visual evidence in a misleading manner without transparent disclosure;
• generating peer-review reports or editorial correspondence while impersonating reviewers or editors;
• using AI to conceal research misconduct or evade editorial screening processes; or
• engaging in any practice that violates publication ethics, research integrity, or applicable laws and regulations.

6. Editorial Assessment

The Editors reserve the right to request additional information regarding the use of AI at any stage of the editorial or peer-review process. Where necessary, authors may be asked to provide:

• a detailed description of how AI was used;
• supporting documentation demonstrating the authors' independent verification of AI-generated content; or
• The original data or materials used to validate AI-assisted analyses.

Undisclosed or inappropriate use of AI may result in editorial action, including manuscript rejection, suspension of peer review, publication of corrections, retraction after publication, notification of the authors' institutions where appropriate, or other actions consistent with the journal's publication ethics policies.

7. AI in Peer Review and Editorial Processes

Editors and peer reviewers who handle manuscripts submitted to TSS must not upload confidential manuscripts, reviewer reports, or unpublished data into publicly accessible AI systems if doing so could compromise confidentiality, copyright, intellectual property, or data protection obligations. Editors and reviewers remain personally responsible for maintaining the confidentiality and integrity of the peer-review process in accordance with the journal's ethical standards.

8. Policy Updates

Because AI technologies continue to evolve rapidly, TSS reserves the right to revise this policy periodically to remain consistent with international best practices, developments in publication ethics, and recommendations issued by COPE and other recognized scholarly publishing organizations.