Artificial Intelligence Policy

Interdisciplinary Journal of Education (IJE)

This policy was initially developed in response to the emergence of generative artificial intelligence and AI-assisted technologies, whose use among researchers was expected to increase. It has since been updated to reflect evolving good practice. The policy seeks to strengthen transparency and provide clear guidance to authors, reviewers, editors, readers, and contributors. The Interdisciplinary Journal of Education (IJE) will continue to monitor developments in this field and revise or refine its policy as appropriate. This policy follows and draws fully upon Elsevier’s Generative AI Policies for Journals.

For Authors

Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies in Manuscript Preparation: An Overview

The Interdisciplinary Journal of Education (IJE) recognizes that, when used responsibly, generative AI and AI-assisted technologies, hereafter referred to as “AI Tools,” can help researchers work efficiently, obtain timely insights, and improve research outcomes.

These technologies, including AI agents and deep research tools, increasingly support the synthesis of complex literature, the development of overviews of research fields or questions, the identification of research gaps, and the generation of ideas. They can also provide tailored assistance with tasks such as organizing content and improving language and readability.

Authors preparing manuscripts for the Interdisciplinary Journal of Education (IJE) may use AI Tools to support their work. However, these tools must never replace human critical thinking, disciplinary expertise, or evaluation. Their use must remain subject to human oversight and control at all times.

Authors retain full responsibility and accountability for the content of their work. This includes:

Carefully reviewing and verifying the accuracy, completeness, and impartiality of all AI-generated outputs, including checking their sources, because AI-generated references may be inaccurate or fabricated.
Thoroughly editing and adapting all material to ensure that the manuscript represents the authors’ authentic and original contribution and reflects their own analysis, interpretation, insights, and ideas.
Transparently disclosing the use of any tools or sources, whether AI-based or otherwise. The use of AI Tools requires a disclosure statement at the time of submission.
Ensuring that manuscript preparation safeguards data privacy, intellectual property, and other rights by reviewing the terms and conditions of each AI Tool used.

Responsible Use of AI Tools

Authors must review the terms and conditions of every AI Tool they use to ensure that the privacy and confidentiality of their data and submitted materials, including unpublished manuscripts, are protected. Particular care must be taken with personally identifiable information.

Authors must not generate images that duplicate or refer to existing copyrighted images, real individuals, or identifiable products or brands belonging to others. They must also refrain from generating imitations of an individual’s voice. All outputs must be checked for factual errors and potential bias.

Authors must ensure that the rights they grant to an AI Tool over their input materials are limited to those necessary to provide the requested service. They must not grant additional rights over those materials, including, without limitation, the right to use them to train the AI Tool.

Authors must also ensure that the tool’s terms do not impose restrictions on the use of its outputs that could impede subsequent publication of the relevant article.

Disclosure of AI Use

Authors must disclose the use of AI Tools in manuscript preparation through a separate AI declaration included in the manuscript at submission. This statement will appear in the published article.

The declaration should document the name of each AI Tool used, the purpose of its use, and the extent of the authors’ oversight.

Disclosure supports transparency and trust among authors, readers, reviewers, editors, and contributors. It also helps ensure compliance with the terms of use of the relevant AI Tool.

Basic checks of grammar, spelling, and punctuation do not require a declaration. Any use of AI in the research process must be disclosed and described in detail in the Methods section.

Authorship

AI Tools must not be listed as authors or co-authors, nor cited as authors.

Authorship entails responsibilities and duties that can be assumed and fulfilled only by humans. Every author, including each co-author, is accountable for ensuring that questions concerning the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Authorship also requires the capacity to approve the final version of the work and consent to its submission.

Authors are responsible for ensuring that the work is original and has not been previously published, that all individuals named as authors meet the criteria for authorship, and that the work does not infringe third-party rights. Before submitting a manuscript, authors must familiarize themselves with the Publication Ethics Policy of the Interdisciplinary Journal of Education (IJE).

Generative AI and AI-Assisted Tools in Figures, Images, and Artwork

The use of generative AI or AI-assisted tools to create or alter images in submitted manuscripts is not permitted. This prohibition includes enhancing, obscuring, moving, removing, or introducing specific features within an image or figure.

Adjustments to brightness, contrast, or color balance are acceptable provided that they do not obscure or eliminate information contained in the original image. Image forensics tools or specialized software may be used to examine submitted manuscripts for suspected image irregularities.

The sole exception applies when the use of AI or AI-assisted tools forms part of the research design or methodology. Examples include AI-assisted imaging approaches used to generate or interpret research data, as in biomedical imaging.

In such cases, the use of these tools must be described in the Methods section in sufficient detail to enable replication. The description must explain how the tools were used to create or modify images and identify the model or tool, its version and extension numbers, and its manufacturer.

Authors must comply with the software’s specific usage policies and provide appropriate content attribution. Where necessary, authors may be asked to submit versions of images before AI-assisted modification and/or the raw component images used to produce the final composite images, for editorial assessment.

The use of generative AI or AI-assisted tools to produce artwork, including graphical abstracts, is not permitted.

In certain circumstances, generative AI may be used to produce cover artwork, provided that the authors obtain prior permission from the journal editor and publisher, demonstrate that all necessary rights and permissions have been secured, and ensure appropriate content attribution.

For Reviewers

Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies in Peer Review

A manuscript received for peer review must be treated as a confidential document.

Reviewers must not upload a submitted manuscript, or any part of it, to a generative AI tool. Doing so may violate the authors’ confidentiality and proprietary rights. Where a manuscript contains personally identifiable information, such disclosure may also infringe data privacy rights.

This confidentiality obligation extends to peer review reports, which may contain confidential information about the manuscript and/or its authors. Reviewers must therefore not upload their reports to an AI Tool, even solely to improve language or readability.

Peer review is central to the scientific ecosystem, and the Interdisciplinary Journal of Education (IJE) upholds the highest standards of integrity in this process.

The scholarly evaluation of a manuscript entails responsibilities that can be assumed only by humans. Reviewers must not use generative AI or AI-assisted technologies to assist with the scientific assessment of a manuscript, because the critical thinking and independent judgment required for peer review fall outside the scope of these technologies. Their use also carries the risk of producing inaccurate, incomplete, or biased conclusions about the manuscript.

Reviewers remain fully responsible and accountable for the content of their review reports.

The AI policy for authors of the Interdisciplinary Journal of Education (IJE) permits the use of generative AI and AI-assisted technologies during manuscript preparation before submission, but only with appropriate oversight and disclosure, as specified in the journal’s Guide for Authors.

Reviewers can find the relevant disclosure in a separate section at the end of the manuscript, immediately before the reference list.

The Interdisciplinary Journal of Education (IJE) has AI-assisted technologies that protect individuals’ identities and conform to the RELX Responsible AI Principles. These technologies are used, among other purposes, during initial screening to assess manuscript completeness, check for plagiarism, and identify suitable reviewers.

These in-house or licensed technologies safeguard author confidentiality. Our systems undergo rigorous evaluation for bias, comply with data privacy and security requirements, and incorporate technologies that respect the confidentiality and data privacy rights of authors, reviewers, and editors.

For Editors

Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies in the Editorial Process

All submitted manuscripts must be treated as confidential documents.

Editors must not upload a submitted manuscript, or any part of it, to a generative AI tool. Doing so may violate the authors’ confidentiality and proprietary rights. Where a manuscript contains personally identifiable information, such disclosure may also infringe data privacy rights.

This confidentiality obligation extends to all correspondence concerning the manuscript, including notification and decision letters, because these communications may contain confidential information about the manuscript and/or its authors.

Editors must therefore not upload such correspondence to an AI Tool, even solely to improve language or readability.

Peer review is central to the scientific ecosystem, and the Interdisciplinary Journal of Education (IJE) upholds the highest standards of integrity in this process.

Managing the editorial evaluation of a scholarly manuscript entails responsibilities that can be assumed only by humans. Editors must not use generative AI or AI-assisted technologies to assist with manuscript evaluation or editorial decision-making, because the critical thinking and independent judgment required for these tasks fall outside the scope of these technologies. Their use also carries the risk of producing inaccurate, incomplete, or biased conclusions about the manuscript.

Editors remain fully responsible and accountable for the editorial process, the final decision, and its communication to the authors.

Elsevier’s AI policy for authors permits the use of generative AI and AI-assisted technologies during manuscript preparation before submission, but only with appropriate oversight and disclosure. These requirements are reflected in the Guide for Authors of the Interdisciplinary Journal of Education (IJE).

Editors can find the relevant disclosure in a separate section at the end of the manuscript, immediately before the reference list. If an editor suspects that an author or reviewer has violated the journal’s AI policy, the editor must notify the publisher.

Publication Process

Use of AI and AI-Assisted Technologies by the Interdisciplinary Journal of Education (IJE)

As part of our continuing commitment to improving the experience of authors, reviewers, and editors, we continually explore innovative approaches to enhancing the publication process.

Our aim is to use advances in technology to support our experts in maintaining the highest standards of publication quality and preserving trust in the content we publish.