Generative AI Policies

The International Transactions on Artificial Intelligence (ITALIC) recognizes the growing role of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) and other AI-assisted technologies in scientific research, computational analysis, and scholarly communication. As an international peer-reviewed journal dedicated to theoretical and experimental advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI), ITALIC supports the responsible use of these technologies to advance scientific knowledge while preserving academic integrity, research transparency, and human accountability.

ITALIC welcomes research involving AI Applications in Green Technology, Machine Learning and Intelligent Algorithms, Expert Systems and AI-Based Decision Support, Artificial Intelligence in Robotics and Computer Vision, and Hybrid Models and Fuzzy Modelling for Complex Problem Solving. The use of AI in research published by ITALIC must be scientifically justified, methodologically sound, and appropriately documented to support the validity and reproducibility of research findings.

This policy establishes the principles and requirements governing the use of GenAI and AI-assisted technologies by authors, reviewers, editors, and editorial staff. It aims to ensure that AI technologies are used transparently and ethically without compromising scientific accuracy, originality, confidentiality, intellectual contribution, or the credibility of scholarly publications.

The use of GenAI and AI-assisted technologies must comply with the following principles:

• Human Accountability: Human researchers and editorial participants remain fully responsible for the accuracy, integrity, originality, and ethical compliance of their work and decisions.

• Transparency: The use of GenAI must be disclosed when it materially contributes to manuscript preparation, research design, data processing, analysis, visualization, or other substantive research activities.

• Scientific Integrity: AI-generated content, data, references, code, analyses, and visualizations must be critically evaluated and verified before being used in research or publication.

• Originality and Attribution: AI-assisted work must comply with applicable copyright requirements, proper attribution practices, and ITALIC's publication ethics policies.

• Confidentiality and Data Protection: Confidential manuscripts, unpublished research, personal information, proprietary datasets, and other restricted materials must not be exposed to unauthorized AI systems.

• Research Reproducibility: When AI materially contributes to research methods or results, authors must provide sufficient information about its use to enable appropriate scientific evaluation and, where applicable, reproducibility.

• Independent Scientific Judgment: AI tools must not replace human responsibility for research decisions, critical interpretation, peer review, or editorial judgments.

ITALIC permits the responsible use of GenAI and AI-assisted technologies as supporting tools in research and manuscript preparation. Acceptable uses may include improving grammar and readability, translating text, organizing manuscript structure, supporting literature classification, assisting with programming and debugging, exploring and preprocessing data, generating visualizations, and documenting computational workflows. AI tools may also support the development and implementation of machine learning algorithms, neural networks, fuzzy systems, expert systems, computer vision, robotics, decision support systems, and hybrid AI models.

Authors must ensure that AI assistance does not replace independent scientific reasoning, methodological decisions, critical evaluation, or responsibility for research conclusions. All AI-generated or AI-modified content must be reviewed and verified before submission. Authors remain responsible for the accuracy of scientific statements, calculations, interpretations, references, citations, datasets, code, figures, tables, and experimental results. References and DOIs must be genuine and independently verified against reliable scholarly sources.

ITALIC prohibits the use of AI tools to fabricate or falsify research data, manipulate experimental results, invent references, misrepresent model performance, create misleading figures, conceal relevant evidence, or produce deceptive claims about research methods and findings. AI-generated content must not be used to commit plagiarism, infringe copyright, misappropriate another researcher's work, or misrepresent authorship. Authors must not generate false statements concerning ethics approval, informed consent, funding, data availability, or research procedures.

The use of synthetic data, simulated results, or AI-generated content is not inherently prohibited when it constitutes a legitimate research method. However, authors must clearly describe the origin, generation process, purpose, limitations, and role of such material. Synthetic or simulated data must never be presented as actual empirical observations without appropriate disclosure and methodological justification.

GenAI systems, chatbots, and other AI-assisted technologies cannot be listed as authors or co-authors. Authorship requires human accountability, approval of the final manuscript, and the ability to address questions concerning the accuracy and integrity of the work. When AI materially contributes to manuscript preparation or research activities, authors must disclose its use in accordance with Section 4 of this policy.

Authors must disclose the use of GenAI or AI-assisted technologies when these tools materially contribute to manuscript preparation or substantive research activities, including the generation or modification of scholarly content, research analysis, data processing, programming, or figure creation. Routine spelling correction or basic grammar checking that does not generate substantive content generally does not require disclosure, unless otherwise requested by the journal.

The disclosure must identify the AI tool or system used, its version where available, its purpose, and the extent of its contribution. The statement should appear in a section titled "Declaration of Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies" or in the Acknowledgments section, as appropriate. When AI tools form part of the research methodology, their use must also be described in the Methods section with sufficient detail to support scientific evaluation and reproducibility.

Authors may adapt the following examples to accurately reflect their actual use of AI.

Example 1: Language Editing

"During the preparation of this manuscript, the authors used [name of AI tool and version, if available] to assist with language refinement and grammar correction. The authors reviewed and revised the suggested changes and take full responsibility for the final content of the manuscript."

Example 2: Computational or Analytical Assistance

"During this study, the authors used [name of AI tool, model, and version, if available] to assist with [specific task, such as code development, data preprocessing, or preliminary analysis]. The procedures and outputs were independently reviewed and validated by the authors. The authors take full responsibility for the research methodology, results, interpretation, and conclusions."

Example 3: No Generative AI Use

"The authors declare that no Generative AI or AI-assisted technologies were used in the preparation of this manuscript or in the conduct of the reported research."

Authors must select or adapt the statement that accurately reflects their actual use of AI. They must not make declarations that are inconsistent with their research or manuscript preparation process.

ITALIC recognizes that peer review requires independent scientific judgment, professional expertise, and strict confidentiality. Reviewers must evaluate manuscripts based on scientific merit, originality, methodological rigor, relevance to the journal's scope, and contribution to Artificial Intelligence research.

Reviewers must not upload, paste, or otherwise disclose submitted manuscripts, unpublished research data, supplementary files, source code, or confidential reviewer comments to public or third-party AI systems unless explicit authorization has been obtained from the journal and the relevant confidentiality and data-protection requirements are satisfied. Reviewers must not use AI-generated assessments as a substitute for independent critical evaluation or delegate their final recommendations to AI systems.

Reviewers remain responsible for the accuracy, fairness, relevance, and appropriateness of all submitted comments. Any AI-assisted information used in preparing a review must be verified. Reviewers must not use confidential information obtained during peer review for personal advantage, unauthorized research, or other purposes unrelated to the review process. Any permitted and material AI assistance in preparing review comments must be disclosed when required by the journal.

Editors are responsible for maintaining the quality, fairness, confidentiality, and integrity of the editorial and peer-review process. AI-assisted technologies may be used for limited administrative or language-support activities only when such use is authorized, appropriate, and consistent with confidentiality and data-protection requirements.

Editors must retain full responsibility for editorial decisions and ensure that decisions are based on scientific merit, relevance to the journal's scope, ethical standards, and appropriate peer-review assessments. Editors must not delegate the evaluation or final decision on a manuscript entirely to an AI system. Confidential manuscripts, reviewer reports, author information, and editorial correspondence must not be uploaded to external AI systems without the necessary authorization and appropriate safeguards.

Editors must verify AI-assisted editorial content for factual accuracy, fairness, and potential bias. AI tools must not be used as the sole basis for determining whether a manuscript contains plagiarism, fabricated results, or other forms of misconduct. Such concerns require appropriate human assessment and, where necessary, additional evidence. Credible concerns about improper AI use must be investigated in accordance with the journal's publication ethics procedures.

Editorial staff and journal management must support the consistent implementation of this policy throughout manuscript submission, peer review, editorial decision-making, production, and publication. They must maintain appropriate confidentiality and data-protection practices when handling manuscript files, author information, reviewer reports, editorial correspondence, and unpublished research.

AI-assisted administrative tools may be used only for authorized purposes and under appropriate safeguards. Editorial staff and journal management must ensure that AI-assisted website content, editorial communications, metadata, and publication materials are reviewed for accuracy before publication. They must also ensure that this policy is accessible to authors, reviewers, editors, and other relevant participants and that procedures for declaring AI use and handling suspected violations are clearly communicated.

Where ITALIC uses AI-assisted tools in manuscript processing, copyediting, production, or other publishing activities that materially affect published content, the journal will ensure appropriate human oversight and transparency. This policy must be reviewed periodically to maintain consistency with the journal's operational practices, research ethics requirements, and developments in scholarly publishing.

ITALIC may investigate suspected violations of this policy at any stage of submission, peer review, editorial assessment, or after publication. Investigations will be conducted fairly, confidentially, and proportionately to the nature of the concern. Authors, reviewers, or editors involved may be asked to provide explanations, relevant documentation, or information about the AI tools and procedures used.

AI-detection software or automated indicators must not be treated as conclusive evidence of misconduct on their own. Any concerns must be evaluated by qualified human decision-makers using appropriate evidence and the journal's publication ethics procedures.

Depending on the severity and circumstances of a confirmed violation, editorial actions may include requesting clarification or additional disclosure, requiring manuscript revision or correction, rejecting a submitted manuscript, suspending or terminating the review process, correcting or retracting a published article when warranted, or referring serious concerns to the relevant institution or other appropriate authority where justified.

Any action concerning a published article will follow the journal's publication ethics and correction procedures. The journal will provide an appropriate opportunity for relevant parties to respond, subject to legitimate confidentiality and investigative requirements.

ITALIC recognizes that GenAI technologies and scholarly publishing standards continue to evolve. This policy may be reviewed and updated to address new technological developments, emerging research practices, and changes in applicable ethical guidance.

Authors, reviewers, editors, and editorial staff are responsible for complying with the version of the policy applicable to their participation in the publication process. Material changes to the policy will be communicated through the journal's official website.

The International Transactions on Artificial Intelligence (ITALIC) supports responsible innovation and the ethical advancement of Artificial Intelligence. The journal welcomes scientifically rigorous research that develops, evaluates, or applies AI technologies to address theoretical, computational, and practical challenges, including those related to green technology and sustainable development.

ITALIC recognizes the value of AI-assisted research while maintaining that technological capability must be accompanied by transparency, scientific rigor, reproducibility, and human accountability. The responsible use of AI must strengthen, rather than undermine, the reliability of scientific knowledge and the integrity of scholarly communication.

Through this policy, ITALIC seeks to promote a trustworthy research environment in which AI technologies contribute to scientific progress while preserving the principles of academic responsibility, ethical conduct, and publication integrity.