Gen AI Policy

GenAI Policy

GenAI (Generative Artificial Intelligence) Policy

Journal of Innovative Teaching Strategies in Primary Education (JITSPE)

Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) Policy

 

OJS-Ready Policy Text

 

1.      Purpose and Scope

This policy regulates the use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools in manuscripts submitted to the Journal of Innovative Teaching Strategies in Primary Education (JITSPE). The policy applies to authors, reviewers, editors, editorial staff, and all parties involved in manuscript preparation, submission, peer review, editorial decision-making, production, and publication.

For the purpose of this policy, GenAI tools include, but are not limited to, large language models, chatbots, AI-based writing assistants, paraphrasing tools, summarizers, translation tools, image generators, code assistants, and other systems capable of generating or transforming text, images, data, code, audio, or other scholarly content.

 

2.      General Principle

JITSPE permits limited and transparent use of GenAI tools only when such use supports scholarly communication without replacing human intellectual responsibility. Authors, reviewers, and editors remain fully accountable for the accuracy, originality, confidentiality, ethical integrity, and scholarly quality of all work submitted to or processed by the journal.

 

3.      Policy for Authors

3.1 Permitted Uses of GenAI

Authors may use GenAI tools for limited support functions, provided that the authors review, verify, and take full responsibility for the final content. Permitted uses include:

  • grammar correction, spelling correction, clarity improvement, and language editing;
  • translation assistance, provided that the authors verify the academic meaning and accuracy of the translated text;
  • summarizing the authors’ own notes or drafts for organizational purposes;
  • formatting assistance, reference-style checking, or non-substantive editorial improvement;
  • assistance in improving graphs, diagrams, or visual presentation only when the underlying data, analysis, and interpretation are created and verified by the authors;
  • coding assistance for data processing or visualization, provided that the authors check, validate, and report the workflow accurately when relevant.

 

3.2 Prohibited Uses of GenAI

Authors must not use GenAI tools for any activity that compromises research integrity, originality, ethical compliance, or accountability. Prohibited uses include:

  • fabricating, generating, altering, or manipulating research data, classroom observation records, interview transcripts, questionnaire responses, assessment results, statistical outputs, or findings;
  • creating fake sources, fake citations, unverifiable references, invented quotations, or fabricated evidence;
  • generating entire manuscripts, literature reviews, arguments, findings, discussions, or conclusions without substantial human authorship and verification;
  • using GenAI to conceal plagiarism, duplicate publication, data manipulation, image manipulation, or other forms of publication misconduct;
  • using GenAI-generated images, figures, tables, or diagrams as research evidence unless the material is clearly disclosed, ethically permissible, and based on verified author-generated data;
  • submitting AI-generated content that the authors cannot verify, explain, defend, or take responsibility for.

 

3.3 Protection of Primary Education Data

Because JITSPE publishes research in primary education, authors must give special protection to data involving children, teachers, schools, classrooms, parents, and educational institutions. Authors must not upload identifiable or confidential educational data to public or third-party GenAI systems unless the data have been fully anonymized, the use is ethically justified, and the relevant consent and ethics procedures allow such use.

This restriction includes, but is not limited to:

  • student names, student identification numbers, photographs, videos, voices, learning outcomes, assessment scores, behavioral records, or classroom observation notes;
  • teacher names, school names, school documents, internal reports, administrative records, interview transcripts, or focus group transcripts;
  • raw qualitative data, raw quantitative data, unpublished instruments, confidential correspondence, or any document that may identify a participant, school, or institution.

Authors remain responsible for protecting the privacy, dignity, and rights of child participants and all educational stakeholders involved in the study.

 

3.4 Disclosure of GenAI Use

Authors must disclose any use of GenAI tools during manuscript preparation, research design, data processing, analysis, visualization, editing, or translation. The disclosure must be included in the cover letter and in a dedicated manuscript section titled “Declaration of Generative AI Use”. If GenAI was used only for language editing, this may also be stated in the acknowledgements section, but the dedicated declaration is recommended for transparency.

The disclosure must include:

  • the name and version or date of the GenAI tool used;
  • the purpose of use;
  • the manuscript section, research stage, or output affected by the tool;
  • a statement that all AI-assisted content was reviewed, verified, and approved by the authors;
  • a statement that the authors remain responsible for the accuracy, originality, ethics, and integrity of the manuscript.

 

3.5 Authorship and Accountability

GenAI tools, chatbots, software, or automated systems must not be listed as authors or co-authors. Authorship requires human accountability, the ability to approve the final manuscript, responsibility for research integrity, and the ability to respond to questions about the work. All named authors must be human contributors who meet authorship criteria and accept responsibility for the submitted manuscript.

 

3.6 Citations, References, and Scholarly Sources

GenAI output must not be treated as a scholarly source. Authors must cite only verifiable and appropriate sources, such as peer-reviewed literature, official documents, datasets, reports, standards, or other accountable materials. Authors must manually check every citation, quotation, DOI, URL, and bibliographic entry to ensure that references are real, accurate, and relevant.

 

3.7 Figures, Tables, Images, and Learning Media

If GenAI is used to assist with figures, tables, diagrams, illustrations, learning media, or visual materials, authors must disclose the use and confirm that the output does not misrepresent data, participants, classroom conditions, school contexts, or research findings. AI-assisted visual enhancement must not introduce fabricated data, invented classroom scenes, altered evidence, or misleading representations.

 

4.      Policy for Reviewers

Manuscripts under peer review are confidential documents. Reviewers must not upload, paste, summarize, translate, analyze, or process any manuscript text, data, tables, figures, supplementary files, reviewer forms, or author information through public or third-party GenAI tools.

Reviewers must not use GenAI tools to:

  • evaluate the scholarly quality of a manuscript;
  • generate peer-review comments, recommendations, or editorial judgments;
  • summarize or critique unpublished manuscript content;
  • check originality by uploading unpublished manuscript material;
  • process any confidential information obtained through peer review.

All peer-review evaluations must be based on the reviewer’s own expertise, judgment, and accountability. Any breach of this policy may result in removal from the reviewer database and further editorial action.

 

5.      Policy for Editors and Editorial Staff

Editors and editorial staff must protect the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts and the integrity of editorial decision-making. They must not upload unpublished manuscripts, author identities, reviewer identities, review reports, decision letters, supplementary materials, or confidential correspondence into public or third-party GenAI systems.

Editors and editorial staff may use GenAI only for non-confidential administrative support, such as improving public announcements, drafting general website text, or checking the language of non-confidential documents. GenAI must not be used as a substitute for editorial judgment, peer-review assessment, acceptance decisions, rejection decisions, or publication-ethics investigations.

Editorial decisions must remain fully human-led and must be based on the journal’s scope, peer-review reports, methodological quality, ethical compliance, originality, and scholarly contribution.

 

6.      Editorial Handling of Undisclosed or Inappropriate AI Use

If the editorial office identifies or reasonably suspects undisclosed, inappropriate, or unethical use of GenAI, JITSPE may take one or more of the following actions:

  • request clarification from the authors;
  • request revision and proper disclosure;
  • conduct additional editorial or ethical assessment;
  • reject the manuscript before publication;
  • issue corrections, expressions of concern, or retractions after publication when necessary;
  • notify the authors’ institution or relevant authority if serious misconduct is identified.

Detection tools alone are not sufficient evidence of misconduct. Editorial decisions on suspected AI misuse must be based on careful assessment, author explanation, manuscript evidence, and applicable publication ethics procedures.

 

7.      Recommended Declaration Statements

Authors may use one of the following declaration formats, adapted as necessary:

Situation

Recommended Statement

No GenAI use

The authors declare that no generative artificial intelligence tools were used in the preparation, analysis, writing, or editing of this manuscript.

Language editing only

The authors used [tool name and version/date] only for grammar correction and language clarity. All intellectual content, data analysis, interpretation, conclusions, and references were produced, reviewed, and approved by the authors.

Translation support

The authors used [tool name and version/date] to assist with translation or language refinement. The translated text was reviewed and verified by the authors to ensure accuracy of meaning and academic terminology.

Visualization or coding assistance

The authors used [tool name and version/date] to assist with [describe coding/visualization task]. The underlying data, analysis, interpretation, and final verification were conducted by the authors. No data or results were generated or fabricated by AI.

 

8.      Policy Review

This policy may be reviewed and updated periodically to reflect developments in generative artificial intelligence, scholarly publishing standards, research ethics, peer-review practice, and data protection requirements in educational research.

 

Reference Basis for Editorial Office

This section is provided for the JITSPE editorial office as a reference basis. It does not have to be displayed on the website policy page.

 

Editorial Office Implementation Checklist

Before publishing the revised policy, the editorial office should ensure that the website and submission workflow are consistent with this policy.

  • Replace the existing GenAI Policy page text with the OJS-ready policy text above.
  • Add “Declaration of Generative AI Use” to the manuscript template.
  • Add GenAI disclosure as a required item in the submission checklist.
  • Add a reviewer reminder that confidential manuscripts must not be uploaded to public or third-party GenAI tools.
  • Add an editor/staff reminder that AI must not be used for editorial decisions or confidential manuscript processing.
  • Remove or replace sidebar links that still point to external template pages unrelated to JITSPE.
  • Ensure the Author Guidelines, Publication Ethics, Copyright Notice, and GenAI Policy use the correct journal name: Journal of Innovative Teaching Strategies in Primary Education (JITSPE).
  • Ensure policy links, disclosure templates, and author templates use the JITSPE domain or official JITSPE files.