Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy

The Journal of Human Resources and Organizational Studies (JHROS) recognises the growing role of generative AI (e.g., ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, and other LLMs) in scholarly writing, data processing, and publication workflows. To maintain transparency, integrity, and ethical standards, all authors, reviewers, and editors must adhere to the standards outlined below: 

  1. AI Policy for Authors

Authors may utilise approved generative AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot) to improve the clarity, structure, and international readability of their manuscripts. The following conditions must be adhered to ensure scholarly integrity:

1.1 Permitted Uses

Authors may use AI tools to:

  • Improve clarity, grammar, spelling, structure, and readability
  • Summarise or organise background literature
  • Structure literature reviews or methodology descriptions
  • Enhance communication for an international audience

All such uses must be disclosed.

1.2 Prohibited Uses

AI tools must not:

  • Generate core scientific content, fabricate data, manipulate results, or alter images, unless explicitly part of the documented research methodology
  • Be listed as authors or co-authors under any circumstances
  • Replace human scholarly judgment in analysis, interpretation, or conclusions

Undisclosed AI Use in generating substantive manuscript content (e.g., literature reviews, discussion sections, and so on) is prohibited.

AI-Induced Plagiarism must be avoided. Authors should use AI output responsibly and check for inadvertent copying.

1.3 Disclosure Requirement

All AI use must be declared in an AI Use Statement in the Acknowledgments section, including:

  • Name and version of the AI tool used
  • Purpose of AI use (e.g., grammar, clarity, data synthesis)
  • Confirmation that all AI-generated content has been reviewed and validated by the authors

For transparency, manuscripts should include a statement such as:
 "During the preparation of this manuscript, the author(s) used [tool name, version] for [purpose]. All output was reviewed and edited by the authors, who take full responsibility for the content of this publication."

“The authors used [AI Tool Name] for [purpose, e.g., grammar checking, summarising background]. The authors take full responsibility for the content and interpretation of the work.”

If no AI tools were used, authors may state:

“No generative AI tools were used in the preparation of this manuscript.”

1.4 Author Responsibility

Authors remain fully responsible for:

  • Accuracy, originality, and integrity of all content, data, and analyses.
  • Human Oversight: Authors are solely responsible for all content, ensuring the accuracy, originality, and ethical integrity of AI-generated or AI-assisted outputs.
  • Validity of citations, references, DOIs, and metadata.
  • Ethical compliance with plagiarism, image manipulation, and intellectual property policies.
  • Ensuring AI use does not compromise the integrity of the research.

1.5 Citation and Reference Verification

Authors must manually verify every reference to ensure:

  • Correct author names, titles, years, volumes, issues, and pages
  • Active and valid URLs, DOIs, or permanent repository links
  • Consistency between in-text citations and reference list
  • Authors must check references one by one before submission.
  • Correct metadata for formatting for indexing and archiving
  1. AI Policy for Reviewers

Reviewers for JHROS must adhere to the following:

2.1 Permitted Uses

Reviewers may use AI tools to:

  • Organise notes
  • Draft administrative emails or templates
  • Improve clarity of written feedback

2.2 Prohibited Uses

  • Reviewers must not upload manuscripts, figures, tables, or any confidential content with AI tools that retain or train on input data (e.g., public versions of ChatGPT).
  • All evaluative comments and recommendations must be independently written and verified.

2.3 Reviewer Responsibility

Reviewers play a critical role in maintaining the quality, integrity, and ethical standards of the journal. Their responsibilities include:

  • Confidentiality and Impartiality: All manuscript content must be treated as strictly confidential. Reviews must be conducted objectively, without bias toward the authors or their affiliations.
  • Ethical Use of AI: Reviewers may use generative AI tools to organise notes, clarify language, or draft preliminary thoughts. However, all evaluative comments must be based on the reviewer’s own careful reading and professional judgment. AI-generated content must never be submitted unless it has been thoroughly reviewed, rewritten, and validated by the reviewer.
  • Verification of Feedback: Reviewers must ensure that all comments are accurate, relevant, and aligned with:
  • the manuscript’s content and context,
  • the journal’s aims and scope, and
  • the core components of scholarly writing, including introduction, literature review, methodology, findings, discussion, conclusion, and implications.
  • Reporting Misuse: Any suspected misuse of AI tools in manuscripts must be reported promptly to the Editor-in-Chief.
  • Transparency Encouraged: Reviewers should notify the Editor if AI was used to support their assessment.
  • Independent Assessment: Reviewers are expected to exercise independent judgment, ensuring that final reports are fully human-written, ethically grounded, and uphold the highest scholarly standards.
  1. AI Policy for Editors

3.1 Permitted Uses

Editors may use AI tools to:

  • Draft communications with authors or reviewers
  • Organise editorial workflow
  • Conduct initial language and format checks

3.2 Prohibited Uses

  • Editors must not use AI to make publication decisions (acceptance, revision, or rejection) or evaluate scientific content
  • Manuscripts or confidential materials under review must never be uploaded to AI systems

3.3 Editorial Responsibility

Editors must:

  • Ensure fairness, transparency, and academic integrity in all editorial decisions
  • Detect and report potential AI misuse by authors or reviewers to the Publisher
  • Maintain editorial independence and compliance with COPE and international publishing standards
  1. Summary of Required Author Actions Before Submission
  • Use AI responsibly, only for language, clarity, or readability
  • Verify all citations, references, DOIs, and URLs manually
  • Include a mandatory AI disclosure statement in the Acknowledgments section
  • Confirm that no AI system is listed as an author
  • Ensure images and data have not been AI-generated or altered without disclosure
  • Take full responsibility for all content, analyses, and data
  1. General Principles
  • All use of AI in the publication process must be transparent, ethical, and fully disclosed
  • AI cannot replace human judgment in scholarly work, peer review, or editorial decisions
  • Violations of this policy may result in manuscript rejection, correction, or retraction
  1. Policy Review and Update

The JHROS AI Policy will be reviewed on an annual basis, or as needed, to ensure it remains aligned with the latest technological advances and evolving ethical standards.

References

COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics). (2023). Guidance on AI and ethics in publishing. https://publicationethics.org

ICMJE. (2023). Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals. http://www.icmje.org

Nature Editorial. (2023). Tools such as ChatGPT threaten transparent science; here are our ground rules for their use. Nature. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-00191-1

UNESCO. (2021). Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000381137