AI and Developmental Insights in Education (AIDIE) recognizes that artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming the way research is conducted, written, reviewed, and published. To ensure that AI technologies are used responsibly, transparently, and ethically, AIDIE establishes this Generative AI Statement as a clear policy for authors, reviewers, editors, contributors, and readers.

This policy is aligned with internationally recognized publication ethics principles, including guidance from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), and is intended to protect scholarly integrity, authorship accountability, research originality, confidentiality, and public trust in academic publishing.

For the purposes of this policy, AI tools refer to digital systems, platforms, or software that use artificial intelligence techniques, including but not limited to machine learning, natural language processing, deep learning, generative modeling, and automated decision-support systems, to generate, analyze, translate, summarize, modify, or enhance textual, numerical, visual, or audio data in a scholarly context.

Examples of AI tools include, but are not limited to:

• Generative AI tools: ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and other large language models (LLMs).
• Writing and language tools: Grammarly, DeepL Write, QuillBot, and similar AI-assisted writing platforms.
• Research support tools: AI-assisted data analysis, coding, visualization, statistical modeling, and programming tools.
• Literature and citation tools: AI-assisted platforms for literature discovery, mapping, summarization, and reference management.

1. Permissible Uses Without Disclosure

Disclosure is not required when AI tools are used only for basic language assistance that does not alter the scholarly meaning, intellectual contribution, interpretation, or argument of the manuscript.

• Grammar checking, spelling correction, and punctuation correction.
• Minor improvements to readability, clarity, and language fluency without changing meaning.
• Reference formatting and citation style formatting, provided that all sources are manually verified by the authors.

2. Permissible Uses With Disclosure

Disclosure is required when AI tools are used beyond basic language assistance, especially when they contribute substantively to manuscript preparation, research workflow, or analytical procedures.

• Substantive rewriting, restructuring, or summarization of manuscript text.
• Translation support beyond minor language polishing.
• Support for coding, data cleaning, statistical analysis, modeling, or visualization, provided that all outputs are verified, reproducible, and methodologically justified.
• Literature mapping, idea generation, or conceptual support, provided that all claims, interpretations, and cited sources are independently verified by the authors.

3. Restricted and Prohibited Uses

Authors must not use AI tools in ways that compromise originality, accountability, research integrity, confidentiality, or copyright compliance.

• Generating an entire manuscript or substantial portions of original scholarly content in place of the authors’ own analysis and interpretation.
• Fabricating, falsifying, or manipulating data, results, images, tables, figures, or research findings.
• Producing citations or references without verifying that each source exists and is accurately represented.
• Summarizing or paraphrasing published works in a way that constitutes plagiarism or misrepresentation.
• Creating content that infringes copyright or reproduces identifiable third-party materials without appropriate permission and attribution.

4. Images, Figures, and Artwork

AIDIE does not permit the use of generative AI or AI-assisted tools to create or alter images in submitted manuscripts. This includes enhancing, obscuring, moving, removing, replacing, or introducing specific features within an image or figure.

Adjustments of brightness, contrast, or color balance are acceptable only when they do not obscure, remove, misrepresent, or eliminate information present in the original image.

If AI use is part of the research methodology, authors must describe it clearly in the Methods section, including the tool or model name, version, provider, purpose of use, input procedures, output verification, and how the outputs were produced and interpreted. Authors may be asked to provide raw images, pre-adjusted images, data files, prompts, or additional documentation for editorial assessment.

The use of generative AI or AI-assisted tools in the production of scholarly artwork, including graphical abstracts, is not permitted. Cover art may be considered only with prior permission from the Editor and with clear evidence that all necessary rights have been cleared and properly attributed.

5. Turnitin AI Writing Detection Threshold

The maximum acceptable result for Turnitin AI writing detection is 25%. Authors are required to revise and adjust their manuscripts if the AI writing detection result exceeds this threshold. Editorial decisions will not rely solely on automated detection results; however, high AI-detection scores may trigger further editorial assessment.

AI tools cannot be listed as authors or co-authors, nor can they be cited as authors. Authorship is limited to human contributors because authorship requires accountability, responsibility, ethical judgment, and the ability to approve the final version of the work. Human authors must take full responsibility for the integrity, originality, accuracy, and ethical compliance of the manuscript as a whole, including any content, analysis, or language support produced with the assistance of AI tools.

1. AI Involvement Disclosure

Authors must disclose the involvement of AI tools when such tools contribute substantively to the research process, manuscript preparation, translation, data analysis, coding, visualization, interpretation, or presentation of findings. The disclosure should include the tool name, version where available, provider, purpose of use, and the authors’ process for reviewing and verifying AI-assisted outputs.

Location of disclosure in manuscripts:

• Methods section: If the AI tool contributed to data analysis, coding, statistical modeling, figure generation as part of a methods-based exception, or any part of the research methodology.
• Acknowledgements section: If the AI tool was used for substantive writing support, translation, restructuring, or content refinement beyond basic proofreading.
• Dedicated statement: Authors are encouraged to include a section titled “The Use of AI or AI-Assisted Technologies” before the References.

2. Example Disclosure Statement

3. Ethical Use of AI

Before using any AI tool, authors must ensure that the tool’s terms and conditions adequately safeguard privacy, confidentiality, intellectual property, and other rights. Authors must not upload confidential, proprietary, sensitive, unpublished, or personally identifiable information to third-party AI tools unless they have a clear legal basis, appropriate authorization, and adequate protections in place.

1. Editorial Review

Manuscripts submitted to AIDIE, whether AI-assisted or not, will undergo an equally rigorous editorial and peer-review process to assess scientific validity, originality, methodological soundness, ethical compliance, and relevance to the journal’s scope. AI may be used only as a supporting tool for limited technical or administrative purposes, such as format checking, plagiarism detection, data integrity screening, or reviewer matching, provided that these processes remain under human oversight. Final editorial decisions and publication responsibility rest solely with human editors.

2. Reviewer Responsibilities

Reviewers must maintain strict confidentiality regarding manuscripts assigned for peer review. Reviewers are prohibited from uploading any part of a submitted manuscript, including text, tables, figures, data, or supplementary materials, to external generative AI tools or third-party AI systems. Such actions may compromise confidentiality, violate authors’ copyrights, and undermine the integrity of the peer-review process.

Reviewers are not permitted to use AI tools to draft, edit, or generate review reports if doing so requires uploading confidential manuscript content. The use of AI tools to evaluate scientific merit, methodology, originality, contribution, or publication suitability is not allowed. Reviewers remain fully responsible for the content, integrity, accuracy, and quality of their evaluations.

3. Policy Enforcement

Submissions that do not comply with this policy may be returned for revision, rejected, or subject to further editorial investigation. Violations of this policy will be handled in accordance with AIDIE’s publication ethics standards and relevant COPE-based procedures.

Recognizing the rapid development of AI technologies, AIDIE will continuously monitor emerging practices, risks, ethical debates, legal standards, and international publishing guidelines related to AI use. This policy may be reviewed and updated periodically to remain aligned with best practices in scholarly publishing, research integrity, copyright protection, confidentiality, and responsible innovation.

AIDIE follows internationally recognized ethical guidance and best practices in scholarly publishing, including:

• Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE): https://publicationethics.org
• International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE): https://www.icmje.org
• Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA): https://oaspa.org

For further information regarding this Generative AI Statement or related publication ethics matters, authors, reviewers, and readers may contact the editorial office of AIDIE.