Artificial Intelligence (AI) Library Guide

Consider the publisher's guidelines for acceptable use and attribution before including AI-generated content into an article you aim to submit for publication.

What Researchers in Europe Should Do

1. Before submitting, review the publisher's or journal's policy; these can change often.
2. Give detailed disclosures about the usage of generative AI, including the tool, version, purpose, and scope of use.
3. Use AI sensibly by limiting it to non-essential activities only—no peer review or conclusion-making.
4. Check the information for factual accuracy, make sure the citations are proper, and eliminate any hallucinations.
5. Observe EU/TDM regulations: find out if your publication permits TDM or opt-outs.
6. Follow happenings in the EU: AI Act compliance and AI Strategy measures (such as transparency and audits) are becoming more and more important, and ERA rules have been modified.
7. Replace the bracketed sections with actual details.
8. Publishers usually require human authors to take responsibility for all AI-assisted content.
9. AI cannot be listed as an author under most guidelines (e.g., from Springer, Elsevier, COPE, or Nature).
10. If no AI tools were used, many publishers suggest including a "No AI Use" declaration, such as: "No generative AI tools were used in the preparation of this manuscript"

Find more info about publishers’ policies regarding AI

• ACM Policy on Authorship

"Generative AI tools and technologies, such as ChatGPT, may not be listed as authors of an ACM published Work. The use of generative AI tools and technologies to create content is permitted but must be fully disclosed in the Work."

• Cambridge University Press: AI Contributions to Research Content 

"AI does not meet the Cambridge requirements for authorship, given the need for accountability. AI and LLM tools may not be listed as an author on any scholarly work published by Cambridge"

• Elsevier AI Author Policy

“Authors are allowed to use generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process before submission, but only to improve the language and readability of their paper and with the appropriate disclosure, as per our instructions in Elsevier’s Guide for Authors(opens in new tab/window).”

• Emerald Publishing’s Stance on AI Tools and Authorship

"Firstly, because these tools cannot take accountability for such work, AI tools/large language models cannot be credited with authorship of any Emerald publication. Secondly, any use of AI tools within the development of an Emerald publication must be flagged by the author(s) within the paper, chapter or case study."

• IEEE Submission Policies

“The use of content generated by artificial intelligence (AI) in a paper (including but not limited to text, figures, images, and code) shall be disclosed in the acknowledgments section of any paper submitted to an IEEE publication.”

• Nature Statement on Authorship and AI

“Large Language Models (LLMs), such as ChatGPT, do not currently satisfy our authorship criteria. Notably an attribution of authorship carries with it accountability for the work, which cannot be effectively applied to LLMs. Use of an LLM should be properly documented in the Methods section (and if a Methods section is not available, in a suitable alternative part) of the manuscript.”

• Oxford Academic - Instructions to Authors

"Natural language processing tools driven by artificial intelligence (AI) do not qualify as authors, and the Journal will screen for them in author lists. The use of AI (for example, to help generate content, write code, or process data) should be disclosed both in cover letters to editors and in the Methods or Acknowledgements section of manuscripts."

• PLOS - Ethical Publishing Practice

"Contributions by artificial intelligence (AI) tools and technologies to a study or to an article’s contents must be clearly reported in a dedicated section of the Methods, or in the Acknowledgements section for article types lacking a Methods section."

• Sage - Using AI in Peer Review and Publishing

"The currently available language models are not fully objective or factual. Authors using generative AI to write their research must make every effort to ensure that the output is factually correct, and the references provided reflect the claims made."

• Springer AI-Assisted Research Publications

“Springer Nature explores providing our peer reviewers with access to safe AI tools,  peer reviewers do not upload manuscripts into generative AI tools.”

• Taylor & Francis Editorial Policies - defining authorship in your research paper

"Authors must be aware that using AI-based tools and technologies for article content generation, e.g. large language models (LLMs), generative AI, and chatbots (e.g. ChatGPT), is not in line with our authorship criteria. Where AI tools are used in content generation, they must be acknowledged and documented appropriately in the authored work."

• Wiley - Best Practice Guidelines on Research Integrity and Publishing Ethics

"The final decision about whether use of an AIGC tool is appropriate or permissible in the circumstances of a submitted manuscript or a published article lies with the journal’s editor or other party responsible for the publication’s editorial policy."