Policy for the Responsible Use of Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies
The Journal of Islamic Medicine (JIM) acknowledges the growing role of generative artificial intelligence (AI) and AI-assisted technologies in research and academic publishing. These technologies may be used responsibly to assist scholarly work, provided that human intellectual contribution, critical evaluation, academic judgment, and accountability remain central to the process.
This policy establishes expectations for authors, reviewers, and editors to safeguard transparency, research integrity, confidentiality, and responsible publishing practices.
1. Authors’ Use of AI
Authors may employ generative AI and AI-assisted tools to assist with manuscript development and related research activities, including:
- Refining language, grammar, and clarity;
- Arranging or reorganizing manuscript content;
- Exploring the literature and locating relevant information;
- Developing initial ideas or preliminary syntheses;
- Assisting with programming, computational procedures, or analytical work, subject to appropriate verification; and
- Performing other supporting tasks under meaningful human supervision.
Such assistance must not replace the authors’ independent reasoning, analysis, interpretation, or scholarly contribution.
Authors retain full accountability for the entire manuscript, including any material developed with AI assistance. They must assess this material for accuracy, completeness, impartiality, and originality. References suggested or produced by AI require particular scrutiny because they may contain errors or refer to publications that do not exist.
Authors are therefore required to:
- Critically examine and verify all AI-assisted material;
- Confirm that every citation refers to an authentic and verifiable scholarly source;
- Check factual claims, numerical data, quotations, and interpretations;
- Ensure that the manuscript expresses their own intellectual contribution and academic judgment;
- Safeguard confidential, personal, proprietary, and unpublished information when interacting with AI tools; and
- Observe applicable requirements relating to copyright, intellectual property, data protection, and research ethics.
Responsibility for the manuscript’s accuracy and integrity rests entirely with its human authors.
2. Reference Accuracy and Fabricated Citations
JIM regards the authenticity and traceability of references as essential elements of scholarly integrity.
Authors must independently confirm that each cited publication exists, is accurately identified and represented, and supports the statement for which it is cited.
Submitting references that are fabricated, nonexistent, materially incorrect, or misleading—including those generated by AI—may represent a serious violation of publication ethics.
Whenever available, authors are strongly encouraged to include correct, functioning DOIs or other persistent identifiers.
The Editorial Office may examine references at any stage of manuscript assessment, peer review, or production. Manuscripts containing invented references or a systematic pattern of unverifiable citations may be rejected or removed from consideration. When such concerns arise after publication, JIM may take appropriate action under its publication ethics policies.
3. Declaration of AI Assistance
Any substantive use of generative AI or AI-assisted technologies during manuscript preparation must be openly declared.
The declaration should specify:
- The tool or service used;
- The activity or purpose it supported; and
- Confirmation that the authors checked the resulting material and assume full responsibility for the manuscript.
Declaration of Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies
While preparing this manuscript, the author(s) used [NAME OF TOOL/SERVICE] to assist with [PURPOSE]. All resulting material was critically examined, verified, and revised by the author(s), who accept full responsibility for the accuracy, originality, integrity, and final content of the manuscript.
A declaration is not required when generative AI has not been used substantively.
4. AI and Authorship Eligibility
Generative AI systems are not eligible for authorship and must not be named as authors or co-authors.
Authorship entails approving the final manuscript, accepting responsibility for research integrity, and responding to questions about the work. These obligations require human accountability and cannot be fulfilled by an AI system.
5. AI as a Research Method
When AI is used as a component of the research methodology, its role must be documented in the Methods section with sufficient detail to support reproducibility and critical assessment. This requirement is distinct from the disclosure of AI assistance in manuscript preparation.
Depending on the study, authors should provide:
- The model or tool name;
- The version used;
- The developer or service provider;
- The purpose of its application;
- Relevant procedures and prompts, where needed for reproducibility;
- The human validation or verification processes applied; and
- Any further details necessary to reproduce or evaluate the method.
AI may be incorporated into research methods, provided that its application is transparent and reproducibly described.
6. AI-Assisted Figures, Images, and Visualizations
AI must never be used to invent, fabricate, manipulate, or misrepresent research data or empirical findings.
The use of AI to assist with data visualization may be acceptable only when the visual output accurately represents authentic underlying data and is produced through reproducible analytical or computational procedures.
Substantive AI involvement in creating explanatory illustrations, conceptual diagrams, workflows, or comparable visual materials must be disclosed.
Authors remain accountable for the accuracy, originality, integrity, and copyright compliance of every visual element included in their manuscript.
7. Reviewers’ Use of AI
Every manuscript submitted to JIM is confidential.
Reviewers must not submit, upload, paste, transmit, or otherwise disclose a manuscript or its confidential contents to public or non-private generative AI systems.
Protected materials include:
- The full manuscript;
- Abstracts or substantial passages;
- Tables and figures;
- Unpublished data;
- Supplementary files; and
- Any other confidential information acquired during peer review.
These restrictions safeguard authors’ confidentiality, intellectual property, and data privacy.
The intellectual responsibilities of peer review must remain with the reviewer. Reviewers are personally accountable for:
- Assessing scientific quality;
- Evaluating originality and scholarly contribution;
- Examining the appropriateness of the methodology;
- Identifying strengths and limitations;
- Developing their recommendations; and
- Producing accurate, fair, and professional review reports.
AI-generated evaluations must not take the place of independent scholarly assessment.
Limited supporting use may be permitted where confidentiality is fully maintained. Examples include improving the language of a report independently written by the reviewer or exploring background literature without revealing confidential manuscript information.
8. Editors’ Use of AI
JIM editors are subject to the same confidentiality obligations as reviewers. Submitted manuscripts and confidential information associated with them must not be disclosed to public or non-private generative AI tools.
Human editors retain responsibility for manuscript evaluation and publication decisions.
AI may assist with limited editorial or administrative tasks, including:
- Refining the wording or organization of editorial correspondence;
- Searching non-confidential background literature;
- Assisting with technical checks;
- Helping identify potential reviewers when suitable safeguards are in place; and
- Supporting other administrative activities that preserve manuscript confidentiality.
The final editorial decision must always be made by a human editor and must never be delegated to or replaced by AI.
9. Confidentiality and Information Protection
Authors, reviewers, and editors must ensure that their use of AI complies with applicable obligations concerning:
- Confidentiality;
- Personal information protection;
- Intellectual property rights;
- Copyright;
- Unpublished research materials;
- Proprietary information; and
- Research participant data.
Before entering research-related material into an AI service, users should examine its privacy policy and terms of use.
10. Prohibited Uses of Generative AI
JIM regards the following practices as unacceptable:
- Producing substantial scholarly material without meaningful human intellectual involvement or verification;
- Presenting AI-generated analysis or interpretation as the authors’ independent scholarly reasoning;
- Inventing or fabricating references, quotations, data, findings, or supporting evidence;
- Using AI to manipulate research data or results;
- Employing AI to disguise plagiarism or other research misconduct;
- Naming an AI tool or system as an author;
- Omitting a required declaration of substantive AI use;
- Disclosing confidential manuscripts to non-private AI systems during peer review or editorial assessment; and
- Replacing independent reviewer or editor judgment with AI-generated assessments.
Serious or repeated breaches may lead to rejection, withdrawal, retraction, or other measures consistent with JIM’s publication ethics policy.
11. Review and Revision of This Policy
As AI technologies and academic publishing practices develop, JIM may periodically reassess and revise this policy.
Authors, reviewers, and editors are responsible for checking and following the latest version published on the JIM website.