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Artificial Intelligence Policy

IJ-SoTL Guidance on the Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Overview

The International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (IJ-SoTL) supports the responsible and transparent use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools, such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, Claude, and others, when used appropriately in scholarly work.

AI tools can enhance academic writing and teaching scholarship by generating ideas, organizing content, and providing language support. However, their use must align with IJ-SoTL's commitment to research integrity, authorship accountability, and ethical publishing. To ensure this alignment, all submissions and reviews must adhere to the following key principles:

  • Transparency: Authors must clearly disclose the name, version, and purpose of any AI tool used in the manuscript.
  • Accountability: AI tools cannot be listed as authors; human authors are fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, and proper citation of all content.
  • Integrity: AI may support clarity or presentation but must not replace core scholarly thinking, analysis, or interpretation.
  • Confidentiality: Editors and reviewers may not upload manuscripts, reviews, unpublished research, or identifiable data into AI tools.
  • Human Oversight: Final scholarly judgment rests with humans; AI outputs must be reviewed, verified, and guided by author and editorial expertise.

For Authors

Acceptable Uses of AI

Authors may use AI tools to support, but not replace, their scholarly contributions. Appropriate uses include:

  • Improving clarity, grammar, or readability of text (especially for non-native English readers)
  • Generating images or tables to visualize conceptual frameworks or results with proper author oversight

Authorship and Accountability

  • AI tools cannot be credited as authors.
  • Authors are fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, and integrity of all content submitted.
  • Authors must verify all AI-generated material and ensure proper citation and attribution.

Disclosure Requirements

All AI use must be clearly disclosed in the manuscript.

During the electronic submission process, you will be required to complete an 'AI Disclosure Statement.' Please be prepared to list the tools used and their purpose in the provided text box, in addition to including this information in your manuscript's Acknowledgments.

Examples of Disclosure:

"Portions of this manuscript were refined using ChatGPT (OpenAI, v.5) for language editing and organization. The authors verified all content and take full responsibility for the final manuscript."

Authors should retain AI-generated outputs and prompts for verification if requested during peer review or post-publication.

Ethical and Privacy Considerations

  • Do not enter identifiable participant data or unpublished research into AI systems.
  • Be aware that AI tools may store or reuse data inputs, posing potential privacy and intellectual property risks.
  • Authors are encouraged to follow institutional and ethical review board policies related to AI use in research and writing.

For Reviewers

IJ-SoTL is committed to protecting the confidentiality and integrity of the peer review process. Accordingly:

  • Editors and reviewers may not upload manuscripts, data, or review materials into AI tools.
  • AI tools may not be used to generate, summarize, or evaluate manuscript reviews. Reviewers may use AI only to refine the clarity or tone of their written comments and remain fully responsible for the content.
  • Upon submission, reviewers must confirm compliance with data privacy standards by affirming: “I did not upload any of this data or information to AI.” Any use of AI for tone or clarity must be disclosed in the designated space.
Noncompliance with this AI policy may result in editorial actions consistent with publication ethics.

Contact

For questions regarding AI use and disclosure in IJ-SoTL submissions, please contact the editorial team at ijsotl@georgiasouthern.edu.