Artificial Intelligence Use Policy

Author responsibilities

AI tools cannot be listed as authors because they cannot approve a manuscript, disclose interests or accept responsibility for its integrity. Human authors remain responsible for all submitted material, including accuracy, originality, citations, ethical compliance and permissions.

Disclose substantive use of generative AI in writing, translation, coding, analysis or figure preparation. Identify the tool and version where available, the purpose of use and how outputs were checked. Describe research-related uses in the Methods section with enough detail to assess reproducibility. Routine spelling and grammar checks that do not generate substantive content need not be separately declared.

Do not use AI to fabricate participants, observations, results, references or documentary evidence. Synthetic data or AI-generated images used as legitimate research material must be explicitly identified and methodologically justified. They must not be presented as genuine clinical observations or primary research evidence.

Review and confidentiality

Reviewers and editors must not upload confidential submissions or unpublished data to public AI services. Any authorized use of a secure tool must preserve confidentiality and be disclosed to the responsible editor. AI output and AI-detection scores do not substitute for expert judgment or establish misconduct on their own.