Ethics and AI Policy

Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement

The Publisher recognizes that it has a duty to ensure its publication program is fair, professional, and ethical. This is evident through its overriding approach to publishing, which is to collaborate with authors, editors, and users to achieve mutually beneficial goals such as dissemination, innovation in learning and scholarship, recognition, reputation, and contribution to the academic record.

Authors have a right to know that when they submit an article for publication, it will be processed as promptly as possible, that if subjected to peer review this will be fair and neutral, that they will be kept informed of the progress of their article, and that if accepted it will be published in a form that upholds the high standards and quality values espoused by the Publisher.

We are committed to upholding industry standard publication ethics and do so by the following means:

Peer Review

  • Policy: Each publication or article type has its own policy on peer review. Please refer to the respective publication guidelines for more detail.

  • Confidentiality: Where peer review is undertaken, the Publisher commits to protecting the confidentiality of peer reviewers, thus giving reviewers the confidence to provide frank and honest feedback.

  • Conflict of Interest: Reviewers are selected to ensure there is no conflict of interest with respect to the research or to the author.

Editor Responsibilities

  • Impartiality: Each article submitted will be judged without prejudice on its own merits.

  • Conflict of Interest: If an Editor has a conflict of interest in respect of a particular article, then the publishing decision will be taken by one of the other Editors.

  • Authority: The Editors have full responsibility and full authority to reject or accept an article for their respective publication.

  • Book Reviews: Book review editors will take a neutral, even-handed approach to which books they choose to review, and from which Publishers.

Publishing Ethics

  • Academic Record: The aim of all publications is to uphold and contribute to the academic record.

  • Plagiarism: The Publisher has no tolerance for plagiarism, and where this is identified, swift action to remedy the situation will be taken.

  • Transparency: The Publisher aims to be transparent in its communications with Editors, providing them with the necessary information, support, and clarity on policies, to carry out their roles effectively.

  • Corrections: The Publisher shall publish corrections, clarifications, retractions, and apologies, where appropriate.

  • Social Responsibility: The Publisher takes its corporate social responsibilities very seriously and ensures that no exploitation exists within any part of its production or distribution process. It sources UK-based copy-editors, proof-readers, and printers in order to maintain direct oversight over the personnel involved in the production processes.

  • Materials: All paper used in publications is responsibly sourced and is FSC accredited stock.

Policy on the Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) Tools in Research and Manuscript Preparation

To maintain the highest standards of integrity, transparency, and accountability in scholarly publishing, we require adherence to the following principles:

Permitted Uses of AI Tools

AI tools may be used in limited, clearly defined ways, including:

  • Enhancing language clarity, grammar, or style.

  • Supporting the research that underpins idea generation, but not the ideas themselves.

  • Assisting with code, data analysis, or text and data mining (TDM), subject to proper citation and data permissions.

If you have used AI in other ways that are consistent with scholarly research standards, please declare the use fully and highlight to the editors so that they can review.

Prohibited Uses

AI tools must not:

  • Be used to fabricate, alter, or manipulate original research data, results, or images.

  • Be used in a way that replaces a researcher’s critical analysis, originality, or authorship responsibilities.

  • Generate content that is passed off without appropriate review, attribution, or citation.

  • Violate copyright laws, data protection rules, or confidentiality standards.

  • The use of Generative AI tools such as ChatGPT, Google Gemini, or Claude to generate substantive content, such as the analysis of data or the development of written arguments, is not permitted. Generative AI tools should also never be relied upon for the preparation or insertion of references or citations, due to the high risk of inaccuracies being introduced to the text.

Disclosure Requirements

Any use of AI tools beyond minor language or formatting support must be transparently disclosed in the submitted manuscript. Authors are required to:

  • Include a “Declaration of AI Use” section prior to the references, or include disclosure in the Methods, Acknowledgements, or Data Availability sections, as appropriate.

  • Describe the AI tool used (including name, version, provider, access point, date of use).

  • Explain how and for what purpose the tool was used.

  • Acknowledge any datasets or third-party content used by the tool and ensure permissions are secured.

Example statement: “During the preparation of this manuscript, the authors used [Tool name, e.g., ChatGPT-4, OpenAI] to [e.g., assist in refining the language of the Introduction section]. The authors reviewed and edited the content produced and take full responsibility for the accuracy and integrity of all aspects of the work.”

Authorship and Accountability

  • AI tools cannot be listed as authors or co-authors. Authorship entails responsibilities – such as the design of research, interpretation of results, and accountability for the integrity of the work – that only humans can fulfil.

  • The use of AI does not reduce or redistribute these responsibilities.

Ethical Use and Oversight

  • All AI use must be under direct human supervision.

  • Authors are fully responsible for evaluating, verifying, and correcting all AI-generated content.

  • Any potential bias, error, or limitations introduced by AI use should be discussed where relevant.

  • You must receive permission from copyright holders prior to using copyrighted material in an AI tool. This applies for example when working on literature reviews and summaries.

We reserve the right to reject or retract submissions that fail to meet these standards or involve undisclosed or unethical AI use. This policy will evolve as technology and best practices develop.

AI use by Reviewers

Please note, to protect authors’ rights and research confidentiality editors and reviewers may not use GenAI tools to evaluate submissions or peer review manuscripts.