Artificial Intelligence (AI) Usage Policy

KAMASEAN: Jurnal Teologi Kristen is firmly committed to academic integrity, transparency, and publication ethics in accordance with the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). This policy regulates the use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools, including ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, AI image generators, and similar tools, by authors, editors, and reviewers.

Ethical Guidelines for AI Use by Authors

Authors are permitted to use AI tools with the obligation to maintain full intellectual responsibility and absolute transparency.

A. Authorship and Responsibility

  1. AI is Not an Author: AI tools cannot be listed as author(s) because they cannot take full responsibility for content, originality, or ethical statements (e.g., conflicts of interest, copyright).
  2. Full Human Responsibility: Human authors are fully responsible for all aspects of the submitted manuscript, which includes content generated by AI, data accuracy, citations, and prevention of hallucination (false information) or bias.

B. Disclosure Requirements

  1. Mandatory Disclosure: Authors must explicitly disclose any significant use of AI in the writing of the manuscript.
  2. Disclosure Details: Disclosures should be placed in the Research Method. Disclosures should include:
    1. The name of the AI tool and the version used (e.g., ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Grammarly Premium, etc.).
    2. The specific purpose for which it was used (e.g., “used for grammar correction on the final draft” or “to synthesize primary data”).

C. Ethics of AI Content Use

  1. Data and Reference Verification: Authors must double-check and verify all references, citations, and facts generated or suggested by AI, as the risk of verification failure (hallucination) and fabrication by AI is very high.
  2. Plagiarism: Although AI tools can assist with paraphrasing, authors are responsible for ensuring that AI content does not breach the journal’s plagiarism policy and screening plagiarism.
  3. Visual Content Copyright: If AI is used to generate images, illustrations, or designs, the author(s) must disclose the source (AI tool and prompt) used. The author(s) must ensure that the use of such visual content complies with applicable licenses and copyrights.

Guidelines for the Use of AI for Editors and Reviewers

The use of AI in the editorial and peer review process must maintain the confidentiality and integrity of the evaluation.

A. Manuscript Confidentiality

Prohibited Input of Manuscript Data: Editors and reviewers are strictly prohibited from entering any part of the manuscript under review into AI tools that can store input data and use it for model training (e.g., the public version of ChatGPT). This breaches the confidentiality of the peer review process and may compromise the author’s copyright.

B. Use of Tools

  1. Permitted: Editors and reviewers may use AI for non-evaluative tasks (e.g., minor grammar corrections in review comments or summarizing public information).
  2. Human Decision: The final decision regarding acceptance, revision, or rejection of manuscripts must be based entirely on human intellectual and ethical judgment, not delegated to AI.

C. Review and Sanction Protocol

The journal will implement clear procedures for screening and sanctions to enforce this policy.

AI Screening

  1. Use of Detection Tools: The journal will use leading AI detection tools designed for academic integrity as part of the initial check of manuscripts. The tools used include (but are not limited to) the AI Writing Detection feature from Turnitin or similar tools.
  2. Threshold Determination: The journal sets the threshold for detecting AI content at a maximum of 20% of the manuscript’s total text content.
  3. Follow-up Actions (Human Investigation):
    1. If the AI detection result is below 20%, the manuscript will proceed to the normal peer review.
    2. If the AI detection result reaches or exceeds 20%, the Editor will put the manuscript on hold. The Editor will contact the corresponding author directly to request clarification, evidence of critical intervention and significant human verification, and justification for the high use of AI.
    3. Important Note: AI detection results are not the sole determinant of rejection. The final decision is always based on the Editor’s critical assessment of the originality of the idea, data integrity, validity of arguments, and the author’s compliance with disclosure obligations. The Editor reserves the right to reject any manuscript regardless of its percentage if evidence of data fabrication or references (hallucination) that the author cannot account for is found.

Sanctions or Penalties for Misconduct

Misconduct concerning this AI Usage Policy, including failure to disclose the use of AI transparently, fabrication of data, or listing AI as an author, will be considered a serious breach of publication ethics and may result in:

  1. Manuscript rejection (desk rejection).
  2. Retracting the publication if the manuscript has already been published.
  3. Notify the author’s institution or funding agency.
  4. The author(s) will be prohibited from submitting future manuscripts.

Authors, Editors, and Reviewers must read and comply with this policy as part of the submission and publication process at KAMASEAN: Jurnal Teologi Kristen.