Ethical Guidelines for using AI in Academic Writing

The Journal of Applied Informatics and Technology (JIT) recognizes the potential of Generative AI and AI-assisted technologies to support academic writing, research synthesis, and language editing. However, the use of AI must adhere to the highest standards of research integrity, confidentiality, and scholarly transparency.

JIT formulates its AI policy in strict alignment with the guidelines established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), ICMJE (2026 Recommendations), and the Thai-Journal Citation Index (TCI) Centre.

1. Core Principles of AI Usage

  • Human Oversight and Accountability: AI technologies are supporting tools and must never replace human critical thinking, academic judgment, or editorial decision-making. Authors, reviewers, and editors retain 100% full accountability for all published content and evaluation results.
  • No AI Authorship: AI tools, Large Language Models (LLMs), or Generative AI agents (e.g., ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini) cannot be listed or cited as an author or co-author. AI systems cannot take responsibility for research accuracy, conflicts of interest, copyright agreements, or legal compliance.
  • Confidentiality and Privacy (PDPA): Uploading unpublished manuscripts, peer-review reports, personal data, or sensitive research information into public or unsecured AI systems is strictly prohibited.

2. Guidelines for Authors

Authors are expected to follow the traffic-light framework regarding AI application:

Permitted AI Use (Assistive AI)

  • Language and Readability: Authors may use AI tools to assist with spelling, grammar check, vocabulary refinement, sentence restructuring, and language translation (e.g., Thai to English).
  • Research Assistance: AI may be used to clean data, format citations from verified sources, or assist in code generation, provided all outputs are rigorously verified by the authors.

Prohibited AI Practices

  • Primary Research Data & Images: Creating, modifying, or manipulating primary scientific research images, gel blots, clinical photographs, or experimental data using AI is strictly forbidden.
  • Fabrication & Hallucinative References: Authors must not use AI to generate synthetic research findings, fake data, or non-existent bibliographic references.
  • Hidden Prompts / Prompt Injection: Inserting hidden text, white fonts, or manipulative prompt instructions within the manuscript file to influence AI screening tools or peer review is strictly prohibited as academic misconduct.

AI Disclosure Requirements

If AI technologies are used in manuscript preparation, authors must explicitly disclose their use upon submission:

  1. Assistive Writing/Editing: Disclose in the Acknowledgments section or a dedicated Declaration of AI Use section prior to the references, stating the tool name, model/version, purpose, specific sections affected, and a statement of author oversight.
  2. AI as a Research Methodology: If AI models form part of the research design, data analysis, or coding framework, details must be thoroughly documented in the Methods section to ensure auditability and reproducibility.
  3. No AI Used: Authors may include a Nil Statement: "The authors declare that no generative AI or AI-assisted technologies were used in the preparation of this manuscript."

3. Guidelines for Peer Reviewers

  • Confidentiality Maintenance: Reviewers must not upload submitted manuscripts, abstract drafts, or supplementary datasets into public or unsecured AI tools. Doing so breaches author confidentiality and intellectual property rights.
  • Independent Evaluation: Reviewers must conduct peer evaluations using their independent scientific judgment. Generating complete peer-review reports or delegating review decisions to AI platforms is strictly prohibited.
  • Permitted Editing: Reviewers may use AI solely to refine the grammar or phrasing of their own written review comments, provided no manuscript content is uploaded to unsecured tools.

4. Guidelines for Editors and Editorial Board

  • Human-in-the-Loop Decisions: Editorial decisions regarding desk reject, peer-review outcomes, minor/major revisions, or final acceptance are made exclusively by human editors.
  • Editorial AI Tools: The editorial team may utilize authorized secure AI utilities (such as Similarity Check/iThenticate or reference validation tools) to screen manuscripts for technical compliance and plagiarism.
  • Proportional Action on Allegations: Suspected improper AI usage or unverified references will be investigated in accordance with COPE flowcharts and TCI guidelines. Manuscripts will not be rejected solely based on AI detector scores, as detector tools may produce false positives.

5. Sample Declaration Templates for Authors

The authors affirm that the use of AI did not compromise the integrity of the research process, and all intellectual contributions remain the responsibility of the authors. No AI tool was used to generate original scientific hypotheses or interpret experimental results without human oversight. The authors are required to include a Declaration of AI Use section in their manuscript, providing details such as the examples below:

Comprehensive AI Disclosure Template

"This manuscript includes content generated or assisted by artificial intelligence (AI) tools. Specifically, [insert AI tool name(s), e.g., ChatGPT by OpenAI, Grammarly, etc.] were used to support tasks such as [e.g., language editing, data analysis, figure generation, literature summarization, or coding assistance]. All AI-generated content was critically reviewed and verified by the authors to ensure accuracy, originality, and compliance with ethical standards."

Template A: General Writing & Language Enhancement

"During the preparation of this work, the authors used [Tool Name, Version/Model, Manufacturer/Developer] to improve language readability and grammar in the [specify section(s), e.g., Introduction and Discussion]. The authors reviewed and edited the output as needed and take full responsibility for the final content of the published article."

Template B: Language Translation (Thai to English)

"The manuscript was originally drafted in Thai by the authors. A first-draft English translation was generated using [Tool Name, Version/Model, Manufacturer/Developer]. All authors verified the translated text against the original manuscript for technical accuracy, revised the wording, and take full responsibility for the published text."

Acknowledgement: Formulated in accordance with the COPE Position Statements, ICMJE Recommendations, and the AI Policy Guidelines for Academic Journals by the Thai-Journal Citation Index (TCI) Centre.

Updated: November 2026