1. Purpose

ISVOS – Journal of Scientific and Professional Studies is committed to the ethical, transparent, responsible, and accountable use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI), Large Language Models (LLMs), and other AI-assisted technologies in scholarly research and publishing.

This policy is based on current principles and recommendations provided by:

• the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE);
• the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE);
• relevant TÜBİTAK guidance on the responsible use of generative artificial intelligence; and
• internationally recognized principles of research integrity and publication ethics.

The fundamental principles of this policy are transparency, human accountability, confidentiality, accuracy, research integrity, and protection of intellectual property and personal data.

2. Scope

This policy applies to:

• authors;
• reviewers;
• editors;
• editorial board members; and
• other individuals involved in the editorial and publication processes of the journal.

All manuscripts submitted to ISVOS are subject to this policy.

3. Definition of Artificial Intelligence and Generative Artificial Intelligence

For the purposes of this policy, AI-assisted technologies include systems capable of generating, modifying, analyzing, summarizing, translating, or otherwise processing text, images, figures, data, computer code, audio, video, or other scholarly content.

These technologies include, but are not limited to, generative AI systems, large language models (LLMs), AI-based coding assistants, image-generation systems, automated analytical tools, and other AI-assisted research or writing technologies.

4. Guidelines for Authors

4.1. Permitted Uses

Authors may use AI-assisted technologies to support legitimate scholarly activities, including:

• language editing and improvement of readability;
• translation assistance;
• literature-search and literature-synthesis support;
• coding and software-development assistance;
• data processing and analysis;
• statistical or computational assistance;
• data visualization;
• preparation or improvement of figures where scientifically and ethically appropriate; and
• other forms of assistance during research and manuscript preparation.

The use of AI does not transfer scientific, ethical, or legal responsibility from the authors to the AI system or its provider.

Authors remain fully responsible for all content submitted to the journal.

4.2. AI Cannot Be an Author

AI systems, generative AI tools, chatbots, large language models, and other AI-assisted technologies cannot be listed as authors or co-authors.

Authorship requires responsibilities and accountability that can only be assumed by human contributors.

AI systems must therefore not be included in the author list and must not be cited as authors.

4.3. Disclosure of AI Use

Authors must transparently disclose substantive use of generative AI or AI-assisted technologies in the preparation or conduct of their research.

The disclosure should identify, where appropriate:

• the AI tool or system used;
• the purpose for which it was used; and
• the stage of the research or manuscript-preparation process in which it was used.

When AI is used primarily for writing, language, or editorial assistance, its use should be disclosed in an appropriate statement in the manuscript.

When AI forms part of the research methodology—for example, for data generation, data processing, statistical analysis, coding, modeling, classification, prediction, image generation, or figure production—its use must be described in sufficient detail in the Methods/Methodology section to permit appropriate scientific evaluation and, where reasonably possible, reproducibility.

A disclosure statement may take the following form:

Declaration of Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies: During the preparation of this manuscript, the authors used [name and version of tool, where applicable] for [specific purpose]. All AI-assisted outputs were reviewed and verified by the authors. The authors take full responsibility for the accuracy, integrity, originality, interpretations, and conclusions of the manuscript.

Authors should adapt this statement to accurately reflect their actual use of AI technologies.

4.4. Author Responsibility and Verification

Authors are fully responsible for:

• the accuracy and integrity of AI-assisted content;
• verifying factual statements;
• verifying all references and citations;
• identifying and correcting fabricated or inaccurate information;
• ensuring originality;
• preventing plagiarism and inappropriate text recycling;
• ensuring compliance with copyright and intellectual-property requirements;
• validating AI-assisted analyses, calculations, computer code, and interpretations; and
• ensuring that the final manuscript complies with research and publication ethics.

Authors must not assume that information, references, calculations, code, or interpretations generated by an AI system are accurate.

The use of AI does not diminish the authors' responsibility for the submitted work.

5. AI-Generated or AI-Assisted Data, Images, Figures, and Analyses

AI-assisted generation or modification of scientific data, images, figures, or other research outputs must be scientifically justified, transparent, and appropriately described.

Authors must not use AI technologies to:

• fabricate research data;
• falsify or selectively manipulate results;
• create misleading scientific images or figures;
• conceal inappropriate image manipulation;
• misrepresent observations or experimental findings; or
• generate evidence that is presented as having been empirically observed when it was not.

Where AI-generated or synthetic data constitute part of the research methodology, this must be clearly disclosed and the generation process should be described sufficiently for scientific evaluation.

AI-assisted image enhancement must not alter the scientific meaning or interpretation of the original data.

The journal may request original data, images, code, prompts, processing information, or other supporting materials when necessary to evaluate the integrity or reproducibility of the work.

6. References and Citations

Authors are responsible for independently verifying every reference and citation included in their manuscripts.

AI-generated references must not be included without verification against the original source.

Fabricated, nonexistent, materially inaccurate, or misleading references constitute a serious publication-ethics concern.

AI systems themselves should not be treated as authoritative scholarly sources when an original, verifiable source is available.

7. Confidentiality, Personal Data, and Intellectual Property

Authors, reviewers, and editors must protect confidential, personal, proprietary, and unpublished information when using AI-assisted technologies.

Unpublished manuscripts, confidential research data, personally identifiable information, patient or participant information, confidential institutional information, copyrighted material, or commercially sensitive information must not be uploaded to external AI systems unless appropriate authorization, data-protection safeguards, and confidentiality protections are in place.

Users are responsible for considering the data-processing, privacy, retention, and reuse policies of AI services before providing information to such systems.

8. Guidelines for Reviewers

Peer-review materials are confidential.

Reviewers must not upload submitted manuscripts, manuscript excerpts, figures, tables, supplementary files, unpublished data, or confidential editorial correspondence to external AI systems when confidentiality and data protection cannot be assured.

AI technologies must not replace the reviewer's independent scholarly judgment.

Where the journal permits limited AI assistance and confidentiality can be adequately protected, reviewers remain fully responsible for:

• the content of the review;
• its accuracy and integrity;
• maintaining confidentiality;
• identifying potential errors introduced by AI; and
• ensuring that the final assessment represents their own scholarly judgment.

Any substantive use of AI in preparing a peer-review report should be disclosed to the editor where appropriate.

9. Guidelines for Editors and Editorial Board Members

Editors and editorial board members must maintain the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts and editorial communications.

Confidential manuscripts, peer-review reports, author correspondence, unpublished data, or other protected editorial materials must not be uploaded to external AI systems when confidentiality cannot be assured.

AI-assisted technologies may support administrative or editorial activities only when their use complies with confidentiality, data-protection, and journal policies.

AI must not make autonomous editorial decisions.

Decisions regarding acceptance, revision, or rejection must remain under the responsibility and scholarly judgment of qualified human editors.

Editors remain accountable for all editorial decisions regardless of whether AI-assisted technologies have been used.

10. Prohibited Uses

The following practices are prohibited:

• using AI to fabricate or falsify data, results, evidence, or references;
• using AI to commit plagiarism or conceal plagiarism;
• presenting AI-generated material as empirical evidence when it has not been obtained through the reported research process;
• generating or manipulating images or data in a scientifically misleading manner;
• including fabricated or unverified AI-generated references;
• using AI outputs without appropriate human verification;
• using AI to impersonate authors, reviewers, editors, or other individuals;
• using AI to manipulate or compromise the peer-review or editorial process;
• uploading confidential manuscripts or protected research data to AI systems without appropriate safeguards; and
• using AI in any manner that violates research ethics, copyright, privacy, confidentiality, or applicable law.

11. AI Detection and Assessment

The journal does not consider the output of automated AI-detection tools, by itself, to constitute definitive evidence of inappropriate AI use or publication misconduct.

Concerns regarding possible undisclosed or inappropriate AI use will be evaluated in context and, where necessary, authors may be asked to provide explanations, original materials, data, code, methodological documentation, or other relevant information.

Editorial decisions concerning suspected misuse will be based on available evidence, the nature of the concern, and applicable publication-ethics principles.

12. Ethical Violations and Editorial Action

Suspected misuse of AI-assisted technologies will be evaluated in accordance with the journal's publication-ethics policies and relevant COPE guidance.

Depending on the nature and severity of the issue, the journal may:

• request clarification or additional documentation;
• require correction or revision of the manuscript;
• reject the manuscript;
• issue a correction or other post-publication notice;
• issue an expression of concern;
• retract a published article; and/or
• contact the authors' institution or other appropriate authority when justified.

The journal will seek to distinguish honest error or inadequate disclosure from deliberate misconduct and will take proportionate action based on the available evidence.

13. Human Accountability

The use of AI-assisted technologies does not reduce or replace human responsibility.

Authors are responsible for their manuscripts, reviewers for their peer-review reports, and editors for editorial decisions.

AI-generated output must always be subject to appropriate human oversight, verification, and scholarly judgment.

14. Policy Updates

Because AI technologies and international standards for their use in scholarly publishing continue to evolve, ISVOS will periodically review and update this policy.

Cases not explicitly addressed in this policy will be evaluated in accordance with the journal's Ethical Principles and Publication Policy, relevant COPE guidance, applicable ICMJE recommendations, and internationally recognized principles of research integrity.

References and International Guidance

Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Core Practices and publication ethics guidance.
https://publicationethics.org/

International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals. Updated January 2026.
https://www.icmje.org/recommendations/

International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). Use of Artificial Intelligence by Authors, Reviewers, and Editors.
https://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/artificial-intelligence/

TÜBİTAK. Relevant principles and guidance concerning responsible and ethical use of generative artificial intelligence in research and scholarly activities.