Gen AI Policy
GENERATIVE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) POLICIES FOR JOURNALS
These policies are derived from Elsevier's generative AI policies for journals. These policies were initially triggered by the rise of generative AI* and AI-assisted technologies, which were expected to increasingly be used by researchers and have now been updated to reflect evolving ethical practice. These policies aim to provide greater transparency and guidance to authors, reviewers, editors, readers, and contributors. Journal of Innovation and Technology Polbeng Series on Informatics (INOVTEK Polbeng - Seri Informatika) will continue to monitor developments in this area and will adjust or refine policies as appropriate.
FOR AUTHORS
The use of generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in manuscript preparation
Journal of Innovation and Technology Polbeng Series on Informatics (INOVTEK Polbeng - Seri Informatika) recognizes the potential of generative AI and AI-assisted technologies (“AI Tools”), when used responsibly, to help researchers work efficiently, gain critical insights fast, and achieve better outcomes. Increasingly, these tools, including AI agents and deep research tools, are helping researchers to synthesize complex literature, provide an overview of a field or research question, identify research gaps, generate ideas, and provide tailored support for tasks such as content organization and improving language and readability.
Authors preparing a manuscript for Journal of Innovation and Technology Polbeng Series on Informatics (INOVTEK Polbeng - Seri Informatika) can use AI tools to support them. However, we must never use these tools as a replacement for human critical thinking, expertise, and evaluation. AI tools should always be applied with human oversight and control.
Ultimately, authors are responsible and accountable for the contents of their work. This includes accountability for:
- Authors must carefully review and verify the accuracy, comprehensiveness, and impartiality of all AI-generated output, including checking the sources, since AI-generated references can be incorrect or fabricated.
- Editing and adapting all material thoroughly to ensure the manuscript represents the author’s authentic and original contribution and reflects their analysis, interpretation, insights, and ideas.
- We require a disclosure statement upon submission to ensure that the use of any tools or sources, whether AI-based or not, is clear and transparent to readers.
- Ensuring the manuscript is developed in a way that safeguards data privacy, intellectual property, and other rights by checking the terms and conditions of any AI tool that is used.
Responsible use of AI Tools
Authors must verify the terms and conditions of any AI tool that they use to ensure that the privacy and confidentiality of their data and inputs, including their unpublished manuscripts, is maintained. Take extra caution when handling any personally identifiable data. Do not generate images that duplicate or refer to existing copyrighted images, real people, or others’ identifiable products or brands, nor any likeness of an individual’s voice. Authors should check for factual errors and for any potential bias.
Authors should also verify the terms and conditions of any AI tool they wish to use to ensure that they only grant to the AI tool the right to use their materials to provide the service to them and that they do not grant to the AI tool any other rights to the materials that they input into the AI tool (including, without limitation, the right to train the AI tool on those materials). They must also ensure that the AI tool does not impose constraints on the use of its outputs in a way that could restrict the subsequent publication of the relevant article.
Disclosure
Authors must disclose their use of AI tools for manuscript preparation by including a separate AI declaration statement in their submission, which will also be reflected in the published work. Authors should note their AI use, including the tool's name, its purpose, and how much they oversaw it. Declaring the use of AI tools supports transparency and trust between authors, readers, reviewers, editors, and contributors and facilitates compliance with the terms of use of the relevant AI tool. Basic checks of grammar, spelling, and punctuation need no declaration. AI use in the research process should be declared and described in detail in the methods section.
Authorship
Authors should not list AI tools as an author or co-author, nor cite AI tools as an author. Authorship implies responsibilities and tasks solely attributed to and performed by humans. Each (co-)author is accountable for ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved, and authorship requires the ability to approve the final version of the work and agree to its submission. Authors must ensure that their work is original and has not been previously published, that all listed authors qualify for authorship, and that the work does not infringe on third-party rights; they should also familiarize themselves with Journal of Innovation and Technology Polbeng Series on Informatics (INOVTEK Polbeng - Seri Informatika) Ethics in Publishing policy before submission.
The use of generative AI and AI-assisted tools in figures, images and artwork
Journal of Innovation and Technology Polbeng Series on Informatics (INOVTEK Polbeng - Seri Informatika) does not permit the use of generative AI or AI-assisted tools to create or alter images in submitted manuscripts. These actions may include enhancing, obscuring, moving, removing, or introducing a specific feature within an image or figure. You can change brightness, contrast, or color balance as long as the original data is not obscured or lost. Image forensics tools or specialized software might be applied to submitted manuscripts to identify suspected image irregularities.
The only exception is if the use of AI or AI-assisted tools is part of the research design or research methods (such as in AI-assisted imaging approaches to generate or interpret the underlying research data, for example, in the field of biomedical imaging). If this is done, such use must be described in a reproducible manner in the methods section. The method section should include an explanation of how the AI or AI-assisted tools were used in the image creation or alteration process and the name of the model or tool, version and extension numbers, and manufacturer. Authors should adhere to the AI software’s specific usage policies and ensure correct content attribution. Where applicable, authors could be asked to provide pre-AI-adjusted versions of images and/or the composite raw images used to create the final submitted versions for editorial assessment.
The use of generative AI or AI-assisted tools in the production of artwork, such as for graphical abstracts, is not permitted. The use of generative AI in the production of cover art may in some cases be allowed if the author obtains prior permission from the journal editor and publisher, can demonstrate that all necessary rights have been cleared for the use of the relevant material, and ensures that there is correct content attribution.
FOR REVIEWERS
The use of generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in the journal peer review process
When a researcher is invited to review another researcher’s paper, the manuscript must be treated as a confidential document. Reviewers should not upload a submitted manuscript or any part of it into a generative AI tool, as such actions may violate the authors’ confidentiality and proprietary rights and, where the paper contains personally identifiable information, may breach data privacy rights.
This confidentiality requirement extends to the peer review report, as it may contain confidential information about the manuscript and/or the authors. For this reason, reviewers should not upload their peer review report into an AI tool, even if it is just for the purpose of improving language and readability.
Peer review is at the heart of the scientific ecosystem, and Journal of Innovation and Technology Polbeng Series on Informatics (INOVTEK Polbeng - Seri Informatika) abides by the highest standards of integrity in this process. Reviewing a scientific manuscript implies responsibilities that can only be attributed to humans. Generative AI or AI-assisted technologies should not be used by reviewers to assist in the scientific review of a paper, as the critical thinking and original assessment needed for peer review are outside of the scope of this technology, and there is a risk that the technology will generate incorrect, incomplete, or biased conclusions about the manuscript. The reviewer is responsible and accountable for the content of the review report.
FOR EDITORS
The use of generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in the journal's editorial process
A submitted manuscript must be treated as a confidential document. Editors should not upload a submitted manuscript or any part of it into a generative AI tool, as this may violate the authors’ confidentiality and proprietary rights and, where the paper contains personally identifiable information, may breach data privacy rights.
This confidentiality requirement extends to all communication about the manuscript, including any notification or decision letters, as they may contain confidential information about the manuscript and/or the authors. For this reason, editors should not upload their letters into an AI tool, even if it is just for the purpose of improving language and readability.
Peer review is at the heart of the scientific ecosystem, and Journal of Innovation and Technology Polbeng Series on Informatics (INOVTEK Polbeng - Seri Informatika)l abides by the highest standards of integrity in this process. Managing the editorial evaluation of a scientific manuscript implies responsibilities that can only be attributed to humans. Generative AI or AI-assisted technologies should not be used by editors to assist in the evaluation or decision-making process of a manuscript, as the critical thinking and original assessment needed for this work are outside of the scope of this technology, and there is a risk that the technology will generate incorrect, incomplete, or biased conclusions about the manuscript. The editor is responsible and accountable for the editorial process, the final decision, and the communication thereof to the authors.
