Generative AI Ethics Policy

The Indonesian Journal of Research and Educational Review (IJRER) is committed to upholding the highest standards of scientific integrity, transparency, and scholarly accountability. This policy governs the ethical and responsible application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and AI-assisted technologies (including Large Language Models [LLMs], Generative AI, and automated writing tools) across all stages of the publishing process.

AI technologies are recognized strictly as supportive, non-human instruments. They must never replace human intellectual contribution, critical evaluation, or scholarly responsibility.

  1. Policy for Authors

1.1 Permitted Uses of AI

Authors may utilize generative AI tools strictly as supportive aids during manuscript preparation for:

  • Language Refinement: Improving grammar, spelling, stylistic fluency, readability, and sentence structure.
  • Code & Technical Support: Assisting in writing, debugging, or optimizing code or scripts used in statistical analysis (e.g., R, Python, SPSS).
  • Conceptual & Visual Illustration: Creating or formatting diagrams, flowcharts, or visual schematics that enhance reader comprehension.

1.2 Strictly Prohibited Uses for Authors

  • Prohibition of AI Authorship: AI tools, chatbots, or LLMs cannot be listed as authors or co-authors. Authorship requires legal responsibility, moral rights, and accountability that can only be exercised by humans.
  • Prohibition of Synthetic Content Generation: AI must not be used to fabricate, synthesize, or manipulate empirical research data, primary figures, or research conclusions.
  • Prohibition of Hallucinated Citations: AI tools must not be used to generate automated literature reviews or invent fake references.
  • Prohibition of Automated Manuscript Writing: Generating entire manuscripts or translating complete papers using AI without substantial human scholarly input and critical verification is strictly prohibited.

1.3 Mandatory Author Disclosure

Authors must explicitly disclose the use of generative AI technologies in a dedicated section titled "Declaration of Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies in the Writing Process" placed immediately before the References section.

  • Disclosure Requirements: Authors must state the name of the AI tool/service, its version, and the specific purpose/scope of its use.
  • Disclosure Template:

"During the preparation of this manuscript, the author(s) used [Name of Tool, Version, Publisher] in order to [state specific purpose, e.g., improve English grammar and language readability]. The author(s) reviewed, edited, and verified all outputs and take(s) full responsibility for the integrity, accuracy, and original content of this publication."

(If no AI tools were used, authors must state: "The author(s) declare that no generative AI or AI-assisted technologies were used in the writing, research design, or analysis of this manuscript.")

  1. Policy for Peer Reviewers

2.1 Confidentiality and Intellectual Property

Peer reviewers are entrusted with confidential manuscripts and proprietary intellectual property.

  • Strict Upload Ban: Reviewers must not upload or input any part of a submitted manuscript, abstract, dataset, or supplementary file into generative AI platforms, LLMs, or public AI software.
  • Data Breach Prevention: Processing confidential submissions through online AI tools violates author confidentiality, trade secrets, and copyright laws, as many AI tools utilize user inputs to train public data models.

2.2 Independent Evaluation and Authenticity

  • Human Critical Assessment: Peer review reports must represent the reviewer's own independent scientific judgment and critical evaluation.
  • Prohibition of AI-Generated Reviews: Reviewers are strictly forbidden from using generative AI tools to write, summarize, or generate peer-review evaluation reports. Unedited, automated AI-generated review reports will be rejected, and the reviewer may be permanently removed from the journal’s reviewer panel.
  1. Policy for Editors and Editorial Board

3.1 Editorial Confidentiality

  • Protection of Submissions: Editors, Section Editors, and Managing Editors must maintain strict confidentiality regarding all submitted materials. Editors must not input submitted manuscripts, peer-review reports, or editorial correspondence into external AI platforms or automated processing tools.

3.2 AI in Decision-Making

  • Human Editorial Governance: Editorial decisions regarding desk rejection, peer-review outcomes, corrections, or manuscript acceptance must be made solely by human editors.
  • Prohibition of Automated Decisions: AI tools or algorithms must not be used as autonomous decision-makers in evaluating scientific quality, methodological validity, or ethical compliance.
  1. Data Privacy, Copyright, and Plagiarism Compliance
  • Data Protection: All parties (Authors, Reviewers, Editors) must ensure compliance with applicable data privacy regulations (e.g., GDPR, national data protection laws). Unpublished personal data, participant identities, or proprietary datasets must never be fed into public AI software.
  • Plagiarism & Originality: AI-generated text or ideas presented without critical human evaluation or proper citation may constitute plagiarism or scientific misconduct.
  1. Policy Enforcement and Misconduct Handling
  • Editorial Inquiry: IJRER reserves the right to request raw research data, original code, or clarification regarding AI usage at any stage of the editorial or post-publication process.
  • Sanctions: Violations of this policy—including undisclosed AI usage, data fabrication, or breaches of reviewer confidentiality—will be handled in accordance with COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) flowcharts. Consequences may include desk rejection, formal reporting to author/reviewer institutions, or article retraction.