Acta Politica Polonica

These principles, developed on the basis of the position of the Association of University Publishers on the use of generative artificial intelligence (GAI) in scientific papers, set out the principles for the responsible use of AI tools in the process of creating and publishing texts, graphics, illustrations and charts. Their aim is to ensure scientific integrity, transparency and respect for copyright.

1. Only a human being can be the author of scientific texts. AI tools (including chatbots like ChatGPT) cannot be considered authors/contributors or cited as authors because they do not meet the essential criteria of the definition of authorship, in particular, they cannot be held responsible for the reliability, integrity, and originality of the work. These tools do not have legal capacity and cannot manage copyright or determine the existence or absence of a conflict of interest. AI tools can support the author in the process of editing, translating, analyzing data or preparing graphics, provided that they do not replace their independent, creative scientific contribution.

2. Authors who use AI tools when writing texts, collecting and analyzing data, creating graphic elements of the work are obliged to honestly and fully transparently disclose which AI tool, how exactly and to what extent it was used, and what impact it had on a given work.

3. AI can be used to make linguistic corrections and improve text readability, but it cannot replace key creative processes such as formulating scientific conclusions, developing insights, or generating research results.

4. The authors are fully responsible for the content of the submitted manuscript also for all excerpts that were created using AI tools, and thus are responsible for any violations of publication ethics. In particular, it is important to remember about such limitations as ChatGPT-type tools as:

a. hallucination, i.e. generating false information, which, however, sounds credible and correct at the linguistic level,

b. plagiarism, quoting directly or appropriating an idea without attribution,

c. generating false bibliographic descriptions or even entire bibliographies.

5. Any use of AI tools should be disclosed in the body of the publication (e.g., in a footnote, abstract, "Methods" or "Acknowledgments" section, stating:

a. the name of the tool used and its version/model,

b. scope of its application (e.g. language editing, generating a sketch of illustrations, data analysis) along with the commands (prompts) used or a short way of using it (e.g. type of query/commands).

6. In addition, each Author is obliged to send the Editorial Board of the journal Acta Politica Polonica an appropriate statement regarding the use of AI-assisted tools in the creation of the work, including chatbots, large language models (LLMs) or image creators, along with a detailed description of the purpose, scope and manner of their use. A template of the statement is attached to this policy (file to download)

7. The creation of images and videos by generative AI has resulted in violations of copyright and the principles of scientific integrity. In compliance with applicable copyright laws and best practices of publishing ethics, the Editorial Board of Acta Politica Polonica does not allow the use of these materials in publications, unless they are the subject of research in a given work. Such cases should be justified each time at the time of submission of the manuscript and will be subject to individual assessment by editors and reviewers. It is allowed to use AI tools to prepare auxiliary illustrations or data visualizations, provided that:

a. data sources are reliable and documented,

b. the graphics do not violate copyright or license,

c. Content is marked as "generated with an AI tool" (if applicable)

d. comply with the FAIR Data Principles if they are scientific in nature.

8. All materials sent to the Editorial Board of the journal Acta Politica Polonica are subject to verification by an anti-plagiarism system that also detects the use of AI tools.

9. Guidelines for reviewers and editors regarding the use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools:

a. reviewers and editors are fully responsible for the reliability, accuracy and integrity of the review and editing process, it is necessary to ensure that no part of the work has been processed by AI without proper permission from the author and without disclosing it,

b. transparency in the use of AI, protection of confidentiality and responsibility for the content of works are key principles that must be followed at every stage of the publishing process,

c. the confidentiality of manuscripts is a fundamental issue at every stage of the publishing process, all manuscripts and correspondence concerning the publication are treated as confidential documents, transferring them to AI tools without the author's consent is prohibited,

d. reviewers, editors, and editors of the journal cannot use AI tools to evaluate submitted papers or to create review content, evaluating a scientific paper requires critical thinking and insightful analysis that go beyond the capabilities of artificial intelligence and can only be carried out by a human.

The Scientific Publishing House of the University of Szczecin, including the scientific journal Acta Politica Polonica, operates in accordance with the recommendations of the Association of University Publishers, of which it is a member: Position and recommendations of the Association of University Publishers on the use of generative artificial intelligence (GAI) tools in writing scientific papers.