Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence

Authors

Artificial intelligence tools do not meet the criteria for authorship, as they cannot take responsibility for the accuracy, integrity or originality of the work, nor consent to publication. AI tools must not be listed as authors or co-authors.

Authors who use generative AI or AI-assisted technologies in the writing process — for language improvement, readability, translation or drafting — must disclose this in a statement placed before the reference list, naming the tool and version and describing how it was used. Basic grammar-checking and spell-checking tools do not require disclosure.

Use of generative AI in the research process itself — for example in study design, data analysis, image generation or interpretation — must be described in the Methods section in sufficient detail to permit assessment and reproduction.

Authors are fully responsible for the content of their manuscript, including any portion produced with AI assistance. This includes responsibility for the accuracy of all statements and, in particular, the existence and accuracy of every cited reference. Fabricated or inaccurate citations are treated as a failure of authorial diligence and may result in rejection or, if discovered after publication, correction or retraction.

AI-generated or AI-altered images, figures and graphics are not permitted, except where such generation is itself the object of the research and is described in the Methods.

Reviewers

Reviewers must not upload manuscripts, or any portion of a manuscript, to generative AI tools or any other external service. Manuscripts are confidential documents, and doing so breaches author confidentiality and may breach the author's rights.

Reviewers must not use generative AI to produce their review report, and are required to confirm compliance with this requirement when submitting their report.

Editors

Editors must not upload manuscripts or editorial correspondence to generative AI tools. Editorial decisions are made by human editors and are not delegated to AI systems.

Screening

The journal reserves the right to use AI-detection and research-integrity screening tools on submissions. Detection outputs are treated as one input to editorial judgement, not as determinative evidence, and authors are given the opportunity to respond before any decision is taken.