Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy

The Journal of Research on Business and Management (JRBM) acknowledges the growing role of artificial intelligence (AI) and AI-assisted technologies in academic research and scholarly publishing. JRBM permits the responsible use of AI tools to support research-related activities, manuscript preparation, and editorial administration, provided that such use upholds academic integrity, research transparency, confidentiality, originality, and human accountability.

This policy establishes the requirements and responsibilities governing the use of AI by authors, peer reviewers, and editors throughout the manuscript submission, evaluation, and publication process.

1. AI Use by Authors

Authors may employ AI-assisted applications to facilitate appropriate tasks, including language editing, grammar correction, translation, organization of ideas, and manuscript formatting. Such applications may serve as supportive instruments but must not replace the authors' intellectual contribution, scholarly judgment, or responsibility for the research.

The use of AI to generate, fabricate, falsify, or deceptively manipulate research data, analytical results, references, citations, images, or other scholarly evidence is strictly prohibited. Authors must independently verify the accuracy of AI-generated content, including factual statements, interpretations, references, and citations, before incorporating it into their manuscripts.

All authors retain full responsibility for the originality, validity, accuracy, and ethical integrity of their submissions. AI systems cannot be credited as authors because they cannot assume responsibility for the research, approve the final manuscript, or respond to questions concerning its integrity.

Authors must disclose substantial use of generative AI or AI-assisted tools in the preparation or development of a manuscript. The disclosure should identify the tool used, explain its purpose, and describe the nature of its contribution. Routine spelling, grammar, or reference-formatting assistance does not ordinarily require disclosure unless requested by the journal.

Where appropriate, disclosures should be included in a dedicated section entitled "Declaration of AI-Assisted Tools" or in another relevant section specified by the journal. JRBM reserves the right to request further clarification regarding AI use when necessary to assess a manuscript's originality, reliability, or compliance with publication ethics.

2. AI Use by Peer Reviewers

Peer reviewers are responsible for providing independent, objective, and evidence-based evaluations of submitted manuscripts. AI tools must not replace reviewers' own critical reasoning, subject expertise, or professional judgment.

Manuscripts under review are confidential documents. Reviewers must not upload, paste, or otherwise transmit any part of a submitted manuscript, its research data, figures, supplementary materials, their review report, or editorial correspondence into any generative AI tool or AI-assisted service. This prohibition applies regardless of the privacy or data-protection settings claimed by the tool.

Reviewers must not use generative AI to evaluate the manuscript or to draft the substance of their review, including the assessment of originality, methodology, results, and conclusions.

Reviewers may use AI-assisted tools only to improve the language and readability of review comments they have written themselves, provided that no manuscript content is entered into the tool. Such use must be disclosed to the handling editor in the confidential comments.

Reviewers remain fully accountable for the content, recommendations, and conclusions of their review reports. Breaches of this section may result in removal from the JRBM reviewer database and will be handled in accordance with JRBM's publication ethics procedures and COPE guidance.

3. AI Use by Editors

JRBM editors may use appropriate AI-assisted technologies to support routine editorial administration and manuscript processing, including language screening, formatting checks, metadata preparation, and other administrative tasks, provided that such use is consistent with the journal's policies and applicable data-protection requirements.

AI systems must not independently determine whether a manuscript is accepted, rejected, or returned for revision. All editorial decisions must remain under the direct responsibility of qualified human editors and be based on scholarly merit, methodological quality, originality, relevance to the journal's scope, and the outcomes of peer review.

Editors must ensure that confidential manuscripts, reviewer identities, review reports, and unpublished research information are not entered into AI platforms that lack appropriate confidentiality and security protections. The use of AI must not introduce unjustified bias, compromise author confidentiality, or undermine editorial independence.

Editors remain accountable for the fairness, transparency, and integrity of all editorial decisions and for ensuring that AI-assisted processes are used appropriately throughout the publication workflow.

4. Transparency and Disclosure

JRBM promotes transparency in the use of AI-assisted technologies in scholarly publishing. When disclosure is required, authors should provide sufficient information for editors and readers to understand the role of AI in preparing the manuscript.

A disclosure statement may follow this format:

"During the preparation of this manuscript, the authors used [name of AI tool] for [specific purpose]. The authors subsequently reviewed, verified, and revised the relevant content and accept full responsibility for the accuracy, originality, and integrity of the published work."

This statement should be adapted to reflect the actual use of AI. Authors must not make a disclosure that misrepresents the nature or extent of AI assistance.

JRBM may request additional information or supporting documentation when questions arise regarding the use of AI-generated content or compliance with this policy.

5. Research Integrity and Ethical Compliance

The use of AI does not exempt authors, reviewers, or editors from complying with established standards of research integrity, publication ethics, intellectual property, confidentiality, and responsible scholarly communication.

Suspected misuse of AI, including undisclosed substantial use where disclosure is required, fabricated references, falsified research evidence, plagiarism, misleading attribution, or unauthorized disclosure of confidential information, may be examined in accordance with JRBM's publication ethics procedures.

Depending on the circumstances and available evidence, the journal may request clarification, require appropriate corrections, reject a manuscript, or take other proportionate measures consistent with its publication ethics policies and applicable guidance from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

6. General Principle of Human Accountability

JRBM recognizes AI as a supporting technology rather than an independent scholarly authority. Responsibility for research design, data integrity, interpretation, manuscript content, peer-review assessments, and editorial decisions remains with the relevant human participants.

All authors, reviewers, and editors are expected to exercise professional judgment, verify AI-assisted outputs, protect confidential information, and ensure that AI use does not compromise the quality, credibility, or ethical standards of scholarly publishing.

Through this policy, JRBM seeks to encourage responsible innovation while preserving the principles of transparency, academic independence, accountability, and trust in scholarly communication.