Use of Generative AI
1. General Policy
Teaching, Learning, and Development recognizes the increasing use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), including generative AI and AI-assisted technologies, in scholarly publishing. AI tools may assist in improving language clarity, organizing content, and supporting technical processes. However, their use must uphold academic integrity, originality, transparency, accountability, confidentiality in peer review, privacy, intellectual property, and other rights. AI tools must not replace human critical thinking, scholarly judgment, or professional responsibility.
This policy applies to authors, reviewers, editors, and editorial staff throughout manuscript preparation, peer review, and editorial handling.
For the purposes of this policy, AI tools refer to digital systems that use artificial intelligence techniques, such as machine learning or natural language processing, to generate, analyze, translate, summarize, or modify textual, numerical, visual, or audio data in a scholarly context. Examples include generative AI tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini, and other large language models; writing and language tools such as Grammarly or DeepL; and AI-assisted tools for data analysis, coding, visualization, and literature discovery.
The journal may use screening tools, including similarity checks and AI-writing detection tools, to support editorial assessment. These tools serve only as supporting instruments and must not be the sole basis for decision-making. If inappropriate or undisclosed AI use is suspected, the journal may request clarification, revisions, or supporting information, reject the manuscript, or initiate further investigation. Failure to comply with this policy may result in rejection, retraction, or other corrective actions.
This policy will be periodically reviewed and updated in response to developments in AI technology and publishing standards. Authors, reviewers, and editors should consult this policy before using AI tools and contact the editorial office if clarification is needed.
2. AI Use by Editors and Editorial Staff
Editors and editorial staff must treat all submitted manuscripts, supporting materials, review reports, and editorial communications as confidential. They must not upload these materials or their contents to AI tools.
Editors and editorial staff must not use AI tools to perform scholarly evaluations, formulate editorial judgments, or make acceptance or rejection decisions. All editorial decisions remain the responsibility of human editors and must be based on their independent assessment of the manuscript and relevant reviewer feedback.
Journal-authorized screening tools may support editorial assessment as described in Section 1. Their outputs must be interpreted by human editors and must not replace scholarly judgment or editorial responsibility.
3. AI Use by Reviewers
Peer review in Teaching, Learning, and Development is based on confidentiality, independent assessment, and human judgment. Reviewers must not upload manuscripts, manuscript excerpts, review reports, supplementary materials, or related communications to AI tools.
Reviewers must not use generative AI to perform the scientific evaluation of a manuscript or generate review conclusions and recommendations. They remain personally responsible for the accuracy, fairness, and scholarly quality of their assessments.
The exemption for authors’ basic language assistance does not permit reviewers to upload confidential manuscripts or review reports to AI tools, including for language editing, translation, or summarization.
4. AI Use by Authors
Authors may use AI tools provided that they maintain full responsibility for the content of their manuscripts. Basic language assistance, such as grammar checking, spelling correction, and minor improvements to readability that do not alter the scholarly meaning, does not require disclosure.
Authors must disclose more substantive AI use, including rewriting, restructuring, summarizing text, translation beyond minor editing, supporting coding or data analysis, and assisting in literature exploration or idea generation. All AI-assisted outputs must be critically reviewed, verified, and validated by the authors to ensure accuracy, reliability, and academic integrity.
AI must not be used to generate entire manuscripts or substantial portions of original scholarly content in place of the authors’ own intellectual contribution. It must not be used to fabricate, falsify, or deceptively manipulate data, results, or findings. Authors must not include AI-generated citations or references without verifying their existence and accuracy. AI use must not constitute plagiarism or infringe copyright or other third-party rights.
The use of generative AI or AI-assisted tools to create or alter images, figures, or graphical content in submitted manuscripts is not permitted, except where such use forms part of the research methodology and is transparently described in sufficient detail to support reproducibility.
Authors are responsible for all submitted content, including material generated or modified using AI tools. They must verify references, identify and correct bias and factual errors, ensure originality and reliability, and provide appropriate citation and attribution. Authors must be able to explain their scholarly contributions and take responsibility for errors or ethical issues arising from AI-assisted work.
AI tools cannot be listed as authors or co-authors because authorship requires accountability and responsibility that can only be fulfilled by humans.
Authors must ensure that their use of AI tools complies with applicable terms and conditions, particularly regarding privacy, confidentiality, and intellectual property. Confidential, proprietary, or personally identifiable information must not be uploaded to AI tools without appropriate safeguards.
When AI tools are used beyond basic language assistance, authors must provide a clear disclosure in the manuscript identifying the tool, its version where applicable, its provider, and how it was used. Authors may use the following statement:
During the preparation of this manuscript, the authors used [tool name, version where applicable, and provider] for [purpose]. All outputs were reviewed and verified by the authors, who take full responsibility for the content.
Where AI use forms part of the research methodology, authors must also describe the relevant procedures in the Methods section rather than relying solely on a disclosure statement.
