Generative AI Policies

This policy sets out the position of the Journal of Astronomy and Sharia Applications (JASA) regarding the ethical, transparent, and responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI) and AI-assisted technologies in the preparation, submission, review, and publication of scholarly manuscripts. The policy is intended to safeguard transparency, accountability, authorship responsibility, confidentiality, research integrity, and the reliability of the scholarly record.

1. Authorship and Accountability

• AI cannot be listed as an author. AI tools and AI-assisted technologies, including generative AI and large language models, do not meet the criteria for authorship because they cannot assume responsibility or accountability for the accuracy, integrity, originality, or ethical conduct of scholarly work. AI tools, software, or systems must therefore not be listed as authors or co-authors.
• Authors retain full responsibility. Authors remain fully responsible and accountable for all content submitted to JASA, including material generated, edited, translated, summarized, analyzed, or otherwise assisted by AI technologies. Authors must verify the accuracy of all statements, data, citations, references, tables, figures, interpretations, and other materials included in the manuscript.
• Human oversight is required. Any use of AI must remain under direct human supervision. Authors are required to critically review, verify, edit, and validate AI-assisted output before incorporating it into a manuscript.

2. Transparency and Disclosure

Authors are required to disclose any substantive use of AI or AI-assisted technologies in the preparation of their manuscript. Disclosure must be clear, specific, and sufficiently detailed to enable editors, reviewers, and readers to understand the nature and extent of AI involvement.

The disclosure should identify:

• the name and, where relevant, version of the AI tool used;
• the specific purpose for which the tool was used;
• the section, process, analysis, figure, or other component in which AI assistance was involved;
• the extent of AI involvement and the steps taken by the authors to review and validate the output.

Disclosure may be provided in:

• the Acknowledgements section for general language or writing assistance;
• the Methods section when AI is used for data processing, coding, analysis, visualization, or other methodological procedures; or
• a dedicated Declaration of AI Use before the References section, where appropriate.

3. Permissible Uses of AI

AI tools may be used to assist authors in the following activities, provided that their use complies with this policy and is disclosed when appropriate:

• Language and grammar refinement: improving readability, spelling, grammar, sentence structure, and clarity.
• Writing support: assisting with the preparation or refinement of preliminary wording or non-research-critical text, provided the material is subsequently reviewed and revised by the authors.
• Brainstorming and structural assistance: supporting the organization of ideas, outlines, or manuscript structure without replacing the authors' intellectual contribution.
• Data analysis and visualization assistance: supporting data processing, coding, analysis, tables, figures, or visualization, provided the procedures are transparent, reproducible, and independently verified by the authors.
• Literature summarization assistance: helping authors organize or summarize existing literature, provided that all original sources are independently checked, accurately represented, and properly cited.

4. Prohibited Uses

The use of AI and AI-assisted technologies is prohibited when it involves:

• Fabrication or falsification: generating fictitious data, fabricated research results, false evidence, manipulated findings, or non-existent references and citations.
• Plagiarism or inappropriate attribution: using AI-generated or AI-assisted material in a manner that violates copyright, intellectual property, attribution, or academic integrity requirements.
• Substitution for human scholarly responsibility: relying on AI as a substitute for the authors' responsibility for research design, interpretation, critical analysis, validation of findings, and scholarly conclusions.
• Breach of confidentiality: uploading, transmitting, or exposing confidential manuscripts, unpublished data, personal information, review reports, or other protected materials to AI systems where confidentiality cannot be assured.
• Misrepresentation of research: using AI to intentionally mislead readers, editors, or reviewers regarding the origin, methods, evidence, results, interpretation, or conclusions of the research.

5. Use of AI by Editors and Reviewers

Editors and reviewers must protect the confidentiality of manuscripts and all associated editorial materials. Confidential or unpublished manuscript content must not be uploaded to publicly accessible generative AI systems or other AI services where confidentiality, data protection, copyright, or intellectual property cannot be guaranteed. Editorial decisions and peer-review judgments must remain the responsibility of qualified human editors and reviewers.

6. Consequences of Misuse

Failure to comply with this policy may constitute a breach of publication ethics. Depending on the nature and severity of the violation, JASA may take one or more of the following actions:

• request clarification, correction, or additional disclosure from the authors;
• reject the submitted manuscript;
• withdraw the manuscript from the editorial process;
• correct or retract a published article where appropriate;
• restrict future submissions in cases of serious or repeated misconduct;
• notify the authors' institution or other relevant bodies when warranted.

This policy may be periodically reviewed and updated to reflect developments in artificial intelligence technologies, scholarly publishing practices, research integrity standards, and emerging ethical considerations. Authors, editors, and reviewers are responsible for consulting the most recent version of the policy available on the JASA website.