Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies Policy

1. Purpose

The International Journal of Disaster Risk Management (IJDRM) recognises that generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) and AI-assisted technologies may support some aspects of research communication. Their use must not compromise originality, accuracy, confidentiality, intellectual responsibility, research integrity or the transparency of the scholarly record.

This policy applies to authors, reviewers, editors, editorial staff and contributors throughout submission, peer review, editorial decision-making and publication.

2. AI tools cannot be authors

An AI system, chatbot or other automated tool cannot be listed as an author or co-author because it cannot approve the final work, hold copyright, declare competing interests, enter into publishing agreements, or take responsibility for the integrity of the article. Human authors remain fully accountable for every part of the submitted and published work.

3. Permitted author uses

Authors may use AI-assisted tools for limited support activities such as language improvement, grammar checking, translation assistance, formatting, coding support, literature organisation or exploratory analysis, provided that the use is lawful, ethically appropriate, carefully verified and transparently disclosed when it materially affects the work.

Routine spelling, grammar and reference-management functions that do not generate substantive intellectual content do not normally require disclosure.

4. Mandatory disclosure

Authors must disclose any use of GenAI or AI-assisted technologies that contributed to drafting text, generating or modifying code, analysing data, producing images or figures, developing instruments, summarising literature, translating substantive content, or shaping interpretations or conclusions.

The disclosure should appear in the Methods section when the tool formed part of the research method, and in an Acknowledgements or dedicated AI Use Disclosure statement when it supported manuscript preparation. The statement must identify:

·       the name and version of the tool, where known;

·       the provider;

·       the date or period of use;

·       the purpose and the parts of the work affected; and

·       the human checks performed to verify accuracy, originality, references, data and outputs.

Suggested disclosure: “During the preparation of this work, the authors used [tool, version, provider] for [specific purpose]. All outputs were critically reviewed and verified by the authors, who accept full responsibility for the accuracy, originality and integrity of the final content.”

5. Unacceptable uses

The following practices are prohibited:

·       listing an AI tool as an author or attributing responsibility to it;

·       submitting AI-generated text, data, references, images or conclusions without verification and disclosure;

·       fabricating, altering or obscuring data, evidence, quotations, citations, participant responses or research records;

·       using AI to create deceptive images or to make undisclosed substantive alterations to images;

·       using AI-generated citations without verifying each source against the original publication;

·       using AI to imitate a participant, generate fictitious qualitative evidence, or replace required human data collection without explicit methodological justification and disclosure;

·       uploading confidential, personal, sensitive, copyrighted or security-restricted material to a tool without an appropriate legal and ethical basis; and

·       using AI in a manner that infringes intellectual property, privacy, data-protection or research-ethics requirements.

6. References, facts and interpretations

Authors must personally verify every factual statement, calculation, quotation and reference. AI-generated or AI-suggested references must be checked against the original source. Authors are responsible for ensuring that cited works exist, are accurately described and genuinely support the claims made.

7. AI-generated or AI-modified images

AI-generated or substantively AI-modified images are not acceptable as research evidence unless their generation is an explicit and justified part of the study design. Any permitted use must be described in sufficient detail to allow evaluation and, where possible, reproduction. Routine technical adjustments such as uniform changes to brightness, contrast or colour balance must not obscure, remove or misrepresent information.

8. AI in data analysis and code

When AI is used to generate, translate, debug or optimise code, or to assist data analysis, authors must retain and, where ethically and legally possible, make available the relevant code, prompts, parameters, validation procedures and software versions. AI assistance does not reduce the authors’ responsibility for methodological validity, reproducibility or error detection.

9. Reviewers

Submitted manuscripts and review materials are confidential. Reviewers must not upload a manuscript, abstract, figure, dataset, review request or draft review to a public or third-party AI service unless the journal has explicitly authorised a secure tool and all confidentiality, data-protection and intellectual-property requirements are satisfied.

Reviewers must write and take responsibility for their own assessments. AI may not replace expert judgement. Any authorised AI assistance must be disclosed to the handling editor.

10. Editors and editorial staff

Editors and staff must not upload confidential submissions, reviewer identities, reports or editorial correspondence to public AI services. Editorial decisions must be made by qualified human editors. Automated tools may support administrative screening, similarity checks or technical quality control only when their use is secure, proportionate and subject to human oversight.

11. Privacy and security

Users of AI tools must consider whether prompts or uploaded content may be stored, reused, transferred across jurisdictions or used for system training. Personal data, sensitive community information, exact locations of vulnerable populations, critical-infrastructure information and other restricted content require particular care.

12. Undisclosed or improper use

IJDRM may request information about AI use, prompts, source materials, code or validation. Undisclosed or inappropriate use may result in revision, rejection, correction, retraction, referral to an institution or another proportionate action under the journal’s publication-ethics policies.

13. Policy review

Because AI technologies and relevant standards evolve rapidly, IJDRM will review this policy regularly and may update it when necessary.