Generative AI Policy

Introduction

Journal of Educational Research and Practice (JERP) recognizes that the advent of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools—especially large language models—offers unprecedented opportunities for enhancing scholarly communication, while simultaneously posing new risks to research integrity, transparency, and accountability. Drawing upon the STM Association’s 2023 White Paper on Generative AI in Scholarly Communications and the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) Position Statement on Authorship and AI Tools, JERP hereby establishes a comprehensive policy governing the use of GenAI across all stages of manuscript preparation, peer review, editorial decision-making, and post-publication activities. This policy is designed to ensure that the benefits of AI—such as increased efficiency in language polishing and data synthesis—are harnessed in ways that preserve the highest standards of scholarly rigor, ethical responsibility, and intellectual ownership.

Acceptable AI Use and Responsibilities for Authors

Authors submitting to JERP may employ GenAI tools for basic linguistic and formatting tasks—such as grammar correction, style consistency, and reference formatting—without explicit disclosure, provided that such use does not alter the intellectual content or conceptual contributions of the work. However, any deployment of GenAI that substantively shapes the research narrative, generates novel textual passages, performs data analysis, creates illustrative figures, or otherwise influences the study’s conceptualization must be transparently reported. Such disclosures should appear in a dedicated “AI Contributions” subsection within the Methods or Acknowledgments, specifying the tool, version, provider, and the precise nature of its input and output. Under no circumstances may GenAI systems be credited as authors, as they lack the legal personhood and ethical capacity to assume responsibility for scholarly claims. Responsibility for all content—whether human-written or AI-assisted—remains with the human authors, who must verify accuracy, originality, and appropriate citation of all AI-generated elements.

Editorial and Peer Review Protocols

Editorial staff and peer reviewers are likewise bound by strict guidelines to safeguard confidentiality and uphold ethical review standards. JERP prohibits the use of public GenAI platforms for plagiarism detection, confidentiality screening, or automated decision-making, given the opacity of their training data and uncertain data retention policies. Instead, editors may engage specialized, publisher-approved AI services under formal contract, ensuring robust safeguards for manuscript confidentiality, intellectual property, and data security. All final editorial decisions must rest on human judgment; AI outputs may inform but must not supplant the expertise of editors or reviewers. Reviewers are expressly forbidden from uploading unpublished manuscripts to public AI platforms or using such platforms to draft reports, in order to maintain the integrity and confidentiality of the review process. Should a reviewer suspect undisclosed substantive AI use by authors, they should flag these concerns to the handling editor, referencing COPE’s guidance on suspected AI misuse in peer review.

Scholarly Transparency

JERP calls on readers and the broader scholarly community to respect the boundaries of GenAI use. Readers should refrain from submitting full-text JERP articles to public AI models, in order to protect authors’ intellectual property and preserve the confidentiality of unpublished data. Published articles that incorporate substantive AI-assisted contributions will carry a clear footnote indicating the extent of AI involvement, thereby enabling readers to assess the provenance and reliability of the findings in context.

Future Revisions

Compliance with this policy will be monitored through periodic audits of published content and the implementation of COPE’s flowcharts for addressing ethical breaches. Instances of undisclosed or inappropriate AI use may trigger JERP’s misconduct procedures, potentially leading to corrections, retractions, or other remedial actions. Recognizing the rapidly evolving nature of GenAI technologies, JERP will review and update this policy at least biennially or in response to significant technological or ethical developments. Through these measures, JERP reaffirms its commitment to fostering innovation while upholding the core values of transparency, accountability, and scholarly excellence.