AI Use Policy

Artificial intelligence (AI) and AI-assisted technologies may support research and manuscript preparation when used responsibly, transparently, and with appropriate human oversight. Their use must not replace the intellectual contribution, critical judgment, methodological responsibility, or accountability of authors, reviewers, or editors.
The Celebes Nursing Journal (CNJ) applies this policy to authors, reviewers, editors, Editorial Board members, and other individuals involved in manuscript preparation, submission, evaluation, production, or publication. The policy is informed by the ICMJE Recommendations on the Use of Artificial Intelligence in Publishing and the COPE Position Statement on Authorship and AI Tools.

1. Core Principles and Scope
The use of AI or AI-assisted technologies must comply with the following principles:

• Human accountability: human authors, reviewers, and editors remain fully responsible for their work and decisions.
• Transparency: AI use must be disclosed when required by this policy.
• Accuracy: AI-assisted outputs must be critically reviewed and independently verified.
• Originality: AI use must not obscure the authors’ genuine intellectual contribution or result in plagiarism, unattributed reuse, or infringement of third-party rights.
• Confidentiality: unpublished manuscripts, peer-review materials, identifiable information, and confidential data must be protected.
• Research integrity: AI must not be used to fabricate, falsify, or inappropriately manipulate data, results, references, images, or other research materials.
• Human-led evaluation: scientific assessment, peer-review recommendations, and editorial decisions must remain human-led and human-accountable.

This policy applies to generative AI, large language models, AI-assisted writing tools, AI-assisted translation, code-generating systems, image-generating systems, machine-learning tools, automated analytic systems, and other technologies capable of generating, transforming, organizing, or analyzing scholarly content.

2. AI and Authorship
AI tools cannot be listed or credited as authors or co-authors because they cannot meet recognized authorship requirements, approve the final manuscript, disclose conflicts of interest, enter into publication agreements, or accept responsibility for the integrity of the work.
All named authors remain responsible for:

• The originality, accuracy, completeness, and integrity of the submitted manuscript
• Independently verifying factual claims, interpretations, calculations, citations, and references
• Ensuring that cited sources exist, are relevant, and accurately support the statements made
• Obtaining required permissions and respecting copyright and intellectual-property rights
• Identifying and correcting inaccurate, incomplete, biased, fabricated, or misleading AI-generated output
• Ensuring that the final manuscript represents the authors’ own scholarly contribution, analysis, interpretation, and conclusions
• Responding to questions concerning any AI-assisted component of the work

AI tools must not be cited as authors. Authors should cite the original scholarly sources supporting their claims rather than treating an AI-generated response as an authoritative source.

3. Responsible AI Use by Authors
Authors may use AI or AI-assisted technologies to support manuscript preparation or research activities when the use is consistent with this policy and does not replace human expertise, critical thinking, or intellectual contribution.
Responsible uses may include:

• Improving language, readability, organization, or clarity
• Assisting with translation of author-written material
• Supporting the organization or structure of manuscript content
• Assisting with preliminary literature exploration or synthesis
• Identifying topics, patterns, questions, or research gaps for subsequent human evaluation
• Assisting with computer code, subject to independent verification and validation
• Supporting research methods, data processing, or analysis when transparently and reproducibly reported
• Supporting the creation of explanatory diagrams or data visualizations under the conditions specified in this policy

Authors must critically review, edit, verify, and take full responsibility for all AI-assisted content. AI-generated output must not be incorporated into a manuscript without appropriate human evaluation.
Basic spelling, grammar, and punctuation checks that do not generate or substantively alter content do not require disclosure. AI-assisted translation, substantive restructuring, content generation, literature synthesis, code generation, research design, data processing, analysis, interpretation, or image creation must be disclosed as specified below.

4. Disclosure Requirements
All manuscripts must include a Declaration of Use of AI in Scientific Writing in the section specified by the official CNJ Manuscript Template.
When AI or AI-assisted technologies requiring disclosure were used during manuscript preparation, the declaration must identify:

• The name of the tool or service
• The purpose for which it was used
• The stage or part of the work in which it was used
• The extent of human review, editing, and verification
• Confirmation that the authors accept full responsibility for the final content

Example statement:

“During the preparation of this manuscript, the authors used [name of tool or service] for [purpose]. The authors reviewed, edited, and verified the resulting content and accept full responsibility for the accuracy, integrity, and content of the published article.”

When no AI or AI-assisted technology requiring disclosure under this policy was used, authors may state:

“The authors declare that no generative AI or AI-assisted technologies requiring disclosure under the CNJ AI Use Policy were used in the preparation of this manuscript.”

Use of AI as part of the research design, data collection, data processing, analysis, coding, modeling, or interpretation must also be described in sufficient detail in the Methods section. The description should include, where relevant:

• The name, developer, and version of the tool or model
• The purpose and manner of use
• The relevant inputs, parameters, prompts, procedures, or analytical settings
• The methods used to validate or evaluate the output
• The extent of human oversight and decision-making
• Information needed to support methodological transparency and reproducibility

A general declaration at the end of the manuscript does not replace detailed methodological reporting when AI forms part of the research process.

5. Data, References, Images, and Research Outputs
AI must not be used to fabricate, falsify, invent, or deceptively alter research data, results, references, citations, participant information, or other research outputs.
Authors must independently verify all references suggested, generated, or edited using AI-assisted tools. Fabricated, inaccurate, irrelevant, or misleading citations are unacceptable.

Figures, Images, and Artwork
AI-assisted explanatory images, such as conceptual diagrams, flowcharts, timelines, theoretical models, or schematic illustrations, may be considered when:

• The image accurately represents the authors’ work
• The authors have critically reviewed and verified the content
• The use of AI is disclosed in the figure caption and the manuscript’s AI declaration
• The tool, version where available, and purpose of use are identified
• Copyright, licensing, attribution, and other third-party rights are respected

AI-assisted data visualizations are permitted only when they are directly derived from the underlying research data and created through transparent and reproducible analytical or computational procedures.
AI tools must not be used to create, fabricate, or inappropriately alter images that represent primary research evidence, including clinical images, patient photographs, radiological images, microscopy images, laboratory images, or other observed or experimental data.
This restriction does not prohibit the use of AI-based image analysis or processing when the technology forms part of the approved research methodology, is transparently reported, is scientifically validated, and does not misrepresent the underlying data.
Editors may request original data, unprocessed images, AI-use documentation, code, prompts, or related materials when necessary to assess the integrity of AI-assisted research outputs.

6. Confidentiality, Privacy, and Intellectual Property
Authors must review the privacy policy, terms of service, data-retention practices, model-training provisions, confidentiality protections, and intellectual-property conditions of any AI tool before using it.
Authors must not enter or upload the following materials into an AI system unless appropriate authorization exists and the system provides adequate confidentiality, privacy, security, and rights protection:

• Identifiable or re-identifiable participant information
• Protected health information or confidential clinical data
• Sensitive personal or institutional information
• Data whose use is restricted by participant consent or ethics approval
• Confidential, licensed, proprietary, or third-party materials
• Unpublished manuscripts or materials belonging to other individuals

Authors remain responsible for ensuring that AI use complies with applicable ethical approval, informed consent, data-protection requirements, institutional policies, contractual obligations, copyright, licensing, and intellectual-property rights.

7. AI Use by Reviewers
Manuscripts, supplementary materials, reviewer reports, editorial correspondence, and related unpublished information are confidential scholarly communications.
Reviewers must not:

• Upload a manuscript, manuscript excerpt, table, figure, supplementary file, reviewer form, editorial correspondence, or other confidential material into an external AI system where confidentiality cannot be assured
• Use AI to summarize or interpret confidential manuscript content
• Delegate substantive scientific, methodological, ethical, or scholarly evaluation to an AI system
• Use AI to generate substantive reviewer comments or recommendations
• Delegate acceptance, revision, or rejection judgments to an AI system

Any limited non-substantive technological assistance must comply with CNJ’s Reviewer AI Policy, must not involve confidential manuscript content, and must not compromise reviewer independence or accountability.
Reviewers remain fully responsible for the accuracy, integrity, originality, and content of their reports.

8. AI Use by Editors and the Journal
Editors must protect the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts and must not upload manuscripts, reviewer reports, editorial correspondence, or related confidential material into external AI systems where confidentiality cannot be assured.
AI must not be used to replace human editorial judgment or independently determine whether a manuscript should be accepted, revised, or rejected.
Editors may use appropriately governed technologies for limited administrative or production purposes, such as:

• Checking submission completeness
• Identifying missing metadata
• Supporting formatting or reference-structure checks
• Supporting similarity screening or research-integrity checks
• Supporting copyediting or production processes

Such use must include appropriate human oversight and must comply with confidentiality, privacy, security, fairness, and data-protection requirements. Automated outputs must not be treated as conclusive evidence of misconduct or used as the sole basis for an editorial decision.
When CNJ uses AI-assisted technology in a manner that materially affects copyediting, production, or published content, the journal will provide appropriate information or disclosure to the authors.
Final editorial decisions remain the responsibility of the Editor-in-Chief or designated human editor.

9. Concerns, Non-Disclosure, and Corrective Action
Failure to disclose AI use will be assessed according to the nature, extent, purpose, and effect of the undisclosed use. Non-disclosure does not automatically establish research or publication misconduct.
Suspected AI use, writing style, or the output of an automated AI-detection tool alone is not sufficient to establish misconduct. Editors may request clarification, supporting documentation, original files, data, code, prompts, or other relevant materials when concerns arise.
Potential concerns include:

• Fabricated or falsified data, results, references, or images
• Misrepresentation of AI-generated work as the authors’ independent intellectual contribution
• Undisclosed substantive AI use
• Use of AI that compromises participant privacy, confidentiality, copyright, or intellectual-property rights
• Uploading confidential peer-review or editorial materials into unauthorized AI systems
• Delegating substantive peer-review or editorial judgment to an AI system
• Failure to verify AI-generated information that results in materially inaccurate or misleading publication content

Concerns will be assessed fairly and proportionately. Depending on the circumstances, CNJ may:

• Request clarification or an amended disclosure
• Request revision or removal of problematic content
• Request supporting data, documentation, or original materials
• Decline or reject the manuscript
• Publish a correction or clarification
• Conduct further investigation in accordance with applicable publication-ethics procedures
• Contact the authors’ institution or another appropriate authority where serious concerns warrant such action
• Retract an article when the reliability or integrity of the published record is seriously undermined

Authors, reviewers, and editors must be given an appropriate opportunity to respond to concerns before a final determination is made, except where immediate action is necessary to protect confidentiality, participant safety, or the integrity of the editorial process.

10. Policy Review
Because AI technologies and scholarly-publishing standards continue to evolve, CNJ reviews this policy periodically. Material changes will be reflected consistently in the Author Guidelines, Reviewer Guidelines, Reviewer AI Policy, Peer Review Policy, manuscript templates, declarations, and other applicable journal information.