Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy

AI Tools in Manuscript Preparation (Authors)

AI Cannot Be Listed as an Author

Artificial intelligence tools — including large language models such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Copilot, and similar systems — cannot be listed as authors on any manuscript submitted to JBRES. Authorship requires the ability to accept accountability for the work, to respond to queries, and to consent to publication. AI tools cannot fulfil these responsibilities.

Any attempt to list an AI tool as an author will result in the manuscript being returned without review.

Disclosure of AI Use is Mandatory

Authors who use AI tools in the preparation of their manuscript — for any purpose including writing assistance, grammar correction, language editing, figure creation, data analysis, literature summarisation, or code generation — must disclose this use. Non-disclosure is a breach of publication ethics and may result in rejection or retraction.

The disclosure must be included in one of the following locations:

• Methods section — if AI was used in data collection, analysis, or experimental design
• Acknowledgements section — if AI was used for writing assistance, editing, or translation

The disclosure statement should name the specific tool(s) used, the version or date accessed, and the purpose for which they were used. Example: "ChatGPT (OpenAI, GPT-4, accessed March 2025) was used to improve the clarity of the Discussion section. The authors reviewed and take full responsibility for all content."

Authors Remain Fully Responsible

The use of AI tools does not reduce authors' responsibility for the accuracy, originality, and integrity of their work. Authors must critically evaluate all AI-generated content before inclusion in a manuscript. Factual errors, hallucinations, unsupported claims, or fabricated references introduced via AI tools remain the authors' responsibility and may constitute research misconduct if not corrected.

Permitted and Restricted AI Uses

AI Tools in Peer Review (Reviewers)

Reviewers are permitted to use AI tools solely to assist with grammar checking or language editing of their own review text. Reviewers must not:

• Use AI tools to generate the substantive content of a review
• Upload manuscript text to AI platforms — doing so breaches manuscript confidentiality
• Rely on AI-generated assessments as a substitute for their own expert scientific judgment

The review submitted to JBRES must represent the reviewer's independent, expert evaluation. Reviews that appear to have been entirely AI-generated may be rejected and the reviewer removed from our database.

See the full Peer Review Policy for additional reviewer expectations.

AI in Editorial Decision-Making

JBRES editors may use AI tools for administrative support (e.g., checking for scope fit, formatting consistency) but all substantive editorial decisions — including acceptance, rejection, and reviewer selection — are made by qualified human editors exercising independent scientific judgment. No editorial decision is made solely by an automated system.

Policy Compliance

By submitting a manuscript to JBRES, all authors confirm that any use of AI tools has been disclosed in accordance with this policy. Discovered non-disclosure after submission or publication will be treated as a breach of our Publication Ethics Policy and may result in rejection, correction, or retraction and institutional notification, as appropriate.

This policy will be reviewed and updated periodically as AI technologies and community standards evolve. For questions, contact [email protected].