Generative AI Policy

1. Policy Rationale and National Alignment

The journal emphasizes the ethical use of technology, critical thinking, multidisciplinary research, and academic integrity. In this context, the journal establishes comprehensive guidelines for the responsible use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) in scholarly publishing.

This policy aligns with India’s evolving AI ethics and governance principles, which prioritize transparency, accountability, fairness, privacy, and human oversight in AI-assisted systems.

2. Definition of Generative AI

Generative AI refers to computational systems capable of producing text, images, code, or other forms of content based on user prompts. Within this journal’s framework, such systems are regarded strictly as assistive technologies and not as autonomous researchers or authors.

3. Guiding Ethical Principles (Indian Context)

The journal’s AI policy is governed by the following principles, consistent with global best practices and the Indian AI ethics discourse:

  • Human-Centricity — Human intellect and scholarly judgment must remain central to research and authorship.

  • Transparency — Any use of AI tools must be openly and clearly disclosed.

  • Accountability — Authors retain full responsibility for all submitted content.

  • Fairness and Bias Awareness — Potential AI-induced bias must be critically examined and mitigated.

  • Privacy and Confidentiality — Research data and manuscripts must not be exposed to AI systems irresponsibly.

  • Academic Integrity — Originality, authenticity, and scholarly rigor must be preserved at all times.

4. Permissible Use of Generative AI by Authors

Authors may use Generative AI only as a support tool to augment—not replace—human intellectual contribution.

Permitted uses include:

  • Language refinement (grammar, clarity, academic tone)

  • Structural suggestions (headings, organization, flow improvement)

  • Literature summarization for comprehension purposes

  • Formatting of tables, references, and citations

  • Code optimization or debugging (with proper validation)

  • Visualization suggestions (without synthetic data generation)

5. Prohibited Use of Generative AI

The following uses violate principles of originality, critical thinking, and ethical scholarship and are strictly prohibited:

  • Generating core research ideas, hypotheses, interpretations, or conclusions

  • Fabricating or manipulating data, results, figures, or images

  • Producing entire sections without substantial human intellectual contribution

  • Creating fake, inaccurate, or unverifiable references

  • Using AI to bypass peer review or ethical scrutiny

  • Listing AI tools as authors or co-authors

AI systems cannot fulfill authorship responsibilities such as accountability, consent, or ethical judgment.

6. Mandatory Disclosure of AI Use

To promote transparency and responsible innovation, authors must disclose any use of Generative AI tools.

Required Declaration of AI Use

This statement must appear under “Declaration of AI Use” or “Acknowledgements.”

Example statement:

“The authors used a Generative AI tool for language refinement and structural suggestions. All content was critically reviewed, verified, and finalized by the authors, who take full responsibility for the work.”

Failure to disclose AI use constitutes ethical misconduct.

7. Author Responsibility and Accountability

Consistent with principles of ethical reasoning and ownership of scholarship, authors remain fully responsible for:

  • Accuracy, originality, and validity of the content

  • Detection and correction of AI-generated errors or bias

  • Compliance with plagiarism and research ethics standards

  • Protection of sensitive or confidential data

The use of AI assistance does not dilute author accountability.

8. Use of Generative AI by Reviewers

To safeguard confidentiality and trust in the peer-review process:

Reviewers must not:

  • Upload manuscripts to AI tools

  • Use AI to generate peer-review reports

Limited personal use is permitted, such as grammar checking of reviewer comments, provided that manuscript content is not shared with AI systems.

9. Use of Generative AI by Editors

Editors may use AI tools for:

  • Administrative workflow support

  • Language screening

  • Similarity and plagiarism checks

Editors must not use AI for:

  • Editorial judgment

  • Assessment of novelty or scholarly merit

  • Acceptance or rejection decisions

All editorial decisions must remain human-led and ethically accountable.

10. Plagiarism, Fabrication, and Ethical Compliance

  • All submissions may undergo plagiarism and AI-content screening.

  • Fabricated data, manipulated visuals, or undisclosed AI use will result in rejection or retraction.

  • Ethical violations will be handled in accordance with international publication ethics standards, consistent with Indian academic norms.

11. Alignment with NEP 2020 Objectives

This policy supports the objectives of NEP 2020 by:

  • Encouraging responsible adoption of emerging technologies

  • Promoting critical thinking over automation

  • Upholding research integrity and ethical scholarship

  • Preparing researchers for future-ready yet value-driven academia

12. Policy Review and Updates

Given the rapid evolution of AI technologies, this policy will be periodically reviewed and updated. Authors are responsible for complying with the latest version published by the journal.

13. Consequences of Policy Violation

Violations of this policy may result in:

  • Manuscript rejection

  • Article retraction

  • Notification to affiliated institutions

  • Restrictions on future submissions

The journal supports the ethical, transparent, and human-centered use of Generative AI, consistent with India’s educational vision and AI governance principles, while preserving the intellectual integrity of scholarly research.