Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy
The Asian Journal of Computer Science and Technology (AJCST) requires transparent, accountable, confidential, and research-integrity-focused use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) and AI-assisted tools. This policy applies to authors, reviewers, editors, and other participants in manuscript preparation, peer review, editorial assessment, and publication.
1. AI Use by Authors
Authors may use GenAI or AI-assisted tools for limited assistive purposes, including language refinement, text organisation, coding support, data-visualisation support, or other clearly disclosed research-support activities. Such use must not replace the authors’ scholarly judgement, verification, interpretation, or responsibility for the work.
Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, references, permissions, analysis, interpretation, conclusions, and overall integrity of the manuscript, irrespective of whether AI-assisted tools were used.
2. AI Authorship Prohibition
AI tools, large language models, chatbots, and other non-human systems must not be listed as authors or co-authors. AJCST’s publication-ethics framework requires authorship to carry human responsibility and accountability for submitted and published work, which an AI system cannot assume.
3. Disclosure Requirements
Substantive use of GenAI or AI-assisted tools must be disclosed in the manuscript or accompanying declarations. The disclosure should identify the tool used and explain its purpose clearly enough for editors and readers to understand how it contributed to the work. Authors should follow the AJCST Author Guidelines and provide the required declaration during the manuscript submission process.
Routine spelling or grammar checking that does not generate substantive content does not need to be disclosed unless the journal’s submission system specifically requires it.
4. AI-Generated Images, Data, References, and Research Content
Authors must not use AI tools to fabricate, falsify, or manipulate research data, results, images, references, quotations, or evidence.
AI-generated references, quotations, factual claims, and other research content must be verified against reliable original sources before inclusion. Authors remain responsible for plagiarism, copyright or permissions issues, confidentiality breaches, bias, errors, misleading content, or other research-integrity concerns arising from AI-assisted work.
When AI-assisted tools are used to prepare or process figures, images, visualisations, code, or data-related outputs, the resulting material must accurately represent the underlying research and must not create, remove, obscure, or alter information in a misleading way.
5. AI Use by Reviewers
Peer review must remain a human responsibility. Reviewers must exercise their own scholarly judgement and remain accountable for the content and recommendations in their review reports.
Reviewers must not upload unpublished manuscripts, figures, supplementary files, review reports, author information, or other confidential editorial material to publicly accessible GenAI systems or to AI services whose data-handling terms may allow retention, reuse, model training, disclosure, or other processing that could compromise confidentiality.
6. AI Use by Editors
Editorial assessment and publication decisions must remain human decisions. Editors must not delegate acceptance, rejection, reviewer selection, ethical judgement, or other substantive editorial decisions to an AI system.
Editors must protect the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts and editorial correspondence. Unpublished manuscripts, reviewer reports, confidential author information, and internal editorial material must not be uploaded to publicly accessible GenAI systems or other AI services whose terms could compromise confidentiality.
7. Confidentiality of Manuscripts Uploaded to AI Systems
Unpublished manuscripts and related editorial materials are confidential. Authors, reviewers, editors, and journal staff must consider the confidentiality, data-retention, reuse, and disclosure terms of an AI service before entering manuscript-related content into that service.
Reviewers and editors must not upload confidential manuscript or peer-review material to publicly accessible AI systems. Authors must also avoid entering confidential third-party information, personal or sensitive data, copyrighted material, or other restricted content into AI systems where doing so would breach legal, ethical, contractual, privacy, or confidentiality obligations.
8. Human Accountability and Verification
Use of AI does not reduce or transfer responsibility. Authors are responsible for checking all AI-assisted content before submission. Reviewers remain responsible for the integrity and independence of their assessments. Editors remain responsible for editorial decisions and for maintaining journal standards, peer-review confidentiality, and research integrity.
9. Non-Compliance
Failure to comply with this policy may be treated as a publication-ethics concern and assessed under the AJCST Publication Ethics & Publication Malpractice Statement and the journal’s Post-Publication and Accountability Policy. Any action taken will depend on the nature and seriousness of the concern.
