Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) Policy

Jurnal Lahan Suboptimal: Journal of Suboptimal Lands (JLSO) recognizes that Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) tools, such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, and other similar systems, are increasingly used to support research activities and scientific writing. These tools may enhance productivity, language quality, and scholarly communication. However, their use must be transparent, responsible, and consistent with the principles of research integrity, publication ethics, intellectual property rights, and confidentiality.

1. General Principles

Authors, reviewers, and editors remain fully responsible and accountable for all content submitted to or published in Jurnal Lahan Suboptimal: Journal of Suboptimal Lands, including any text, data, analyses, references, figures, images, tables, or other materials produced or modified with the assistance of GenAI tools.

GenAI tools cannot be listed or credited as authors or co-authors because they cannot fulfill the requirements of authorship, approve the final version of a manuscript, declare conflicts of interest, or assume responsibility and accountability for the integrity of the published work.

All users of GenAI tools must ensure that AI-assisted content is accurate, original, appropriately referenced, and free from plagiarism, copyright infringement, data fabrication, data falsification, misleading information, and breaches of privacy or confidentiality.

The use of GenAI tools does not reduce or replace the responsibility of authors, reviewers, and editors to apply independent scholarly judgment and comply with the journal’s publication ethics policies.

2. Use of GenAI by Authors

Authors may use GenAI tools in limited, responsible, and transparent ways, including:

• Editing language for grammar, spelling, readability, clarity, and academic style.
• Rephrasing or improving non-technical parts of a manuscript without altering the scientific meaning.
• Assisting in the preparation of cover letters, plain-language summaries, or other administrative documents.
• Exploring ideas, organizing preliminary concepts, or brainstorming, provided that all outputs are critically evaluated and verified by the authors.
• Assisting with coding or data-processing tasks, provided that the procedures, outputs, and interpretations are independently checked and validated by the authors.

Authors must not use GenAI tools to:

• Fabricate, falsify, manipulate, or misrepresent research data, methods, results, statistical analyses, figures, tables, images, or conclusions.
• Generate fictitious, inaccurate, or unverifiable references and citations.
• Produce an entire manuscript or substantial scientific sections without rigorous intellectual contribution, critical evaluation, verification, and revision by the authors.
• Generate interpretations or conclusions that have not been supported by the research data.
• conceal plagiarism or reproduce copyrighted, proprietary, personal, or confidential material without appropriate authorization.
• Alter research images in ways that could misrepresent the original scientific information.
• Replace the authors’ responsibility for designing the study, conducting the research, analyzing the data, interpreting the findings, and preparing the final manuscript.

Authors are responsible for verifying the factual accuracy, originality, references, calculations, analyses, and conclusions of all GenAI-assisted content before manuscript submission.

When GenAI tools have been used in preparing a manuscript beyond basic spelling, grammar, or formatting corrections, authors must transparently disclose their use. The disclosure should identify the name of the tool, its provider, the purpose for which it was used, and the extent of human review and verification.

The disclosure may be included in the Acknowledgments, Methods, or a dedicated Declaration of Generative Artificial Intelligence Use section, depending on the nature of its use.

An example disclosure statement is:

“During the preparation of this manuscript, the authors used ChatGPT, developed by OpenAI, to assist with English-language editing and improvements in clarity. The authors subsequently reviewed, edited, and verified the entire manuscript and take full responsibility for its content.”

When GenAI tools are used for data analysis, coding, image generation, or other methodological purposes, their use must be described in sufficient detail in the Methods section to allow readers to understand and evaluate the procedure.

The use of GenAI tools does not qualify as an original intellectual contribution and must not be presented as a substitute for the authors’ scholarly work.

3. Use of GenAI by Reviewers

Manuscripts submitted to Jurnal Lahan Suboptimal: Journal of Suboptimal Lands are confidential documents. Reviewers must not upload unpublished manuscripts, supplementary files, author information, research data, figures, review materials, or any other confidential content into publicly accessible GenAI tools or systems that may store, process, learn from, or reuse the submitted information.

Reviewers remain fully responsible for the accuracy, integrity, fairness, and confidentiality of their peer-review reports.

Peer-review reports must be based on the reviewer’s own expertise, critical assessment, and independent scholarly judgment. GenAI tools must not be used to replace the reviewer’s evaluation of the scientific quality, originality, methodology, validity, significance, or ethical aspects of a manuscript.

Limited use of secure GenAI tools for improving the language, grammar, or structure of a review report may be permitted only when manuscript confidentiality and personal data protection can be fully guaranteed. Reviewers remain responsible for verifying all AI-assisted wording before submitting their reports.

Reviewers must not use GenAI tools to identify authors, infer confidential information, generate unsupported allegations, or create false or misleading comments about a manuscript.

4. Use of GenAI by Editors

Editors must maintain the confidentiality of all manuscripts, correspondence, reviewer reports, author information, research data, and editorial records submitted to the journal.

Editors must not upload unpublished manuscripts or other confidential submission materials into GenAI tools that may retain, reuse, or disclose the content.

Editorial decisions must be based on human scholarly judgment, the journal’s editorial criteria, the quality and relevance of the manuscript, reviewers’ assessments, and applicable publication ethics standards.

GenAI tools must not independently make decisions regarding manuscript acceptance, revision, rejection, correction, or retraction.

Editors may use secure AI-assisted technologies for limited administrative or language-support purposes, provided that confidentiality, data protection, impartiality, and editorial accountability are maintained.

Editors remain fully responsible for all editorial communications and decisions, including any content prepared with the assistance of GenAI tools.

5. GenAI-Generated or AI-Modified Images

The use of GenAI to create or substantially modify scientific images, research photographs, graphical evidence, or primary research data is generally not permitted when such use could affect the authenticity, reliability, or interpretation of the research findings.

Basic technical adjustments, such as cropping, resizing, brightness correction, contrast adjustment, or file-format conversion, may be permitted provided that they are applied consistently, do not obscure or remove relevant information, and do not misrepresent the original data.

When AI-generated images are used solely for illustrative, conceptual, or graphical-abstract purposes, their use must be clearly disclosed. Authors must ensure that the images do not infringe copyright, contain misleading scientific representations, or violate the rights and privacy of individuals.

The journal may request original, unprocessed image files or supporting documentation when the authenticity or integrity of an image is questioned.

6. References and Factual Verification

GenAI-generated references, quotations, facts, numerical values, and scientific claims must be independently verified against reliable and accessible original sources.

Authors must not cite GenAI tools as primary sources of scientific evidence unless the tool itself is the object of the study and its use is methodologically relevant.

Authors are fully responsible for ensuring that every reference included in a manuscript exists, is accurately presented, is relevant to the cited statement, and has been consulted by the authors.

The submission of fabricated, inaccurate, incomplete, or unverifiable references generated by GenAI may be considered a violation of publication ethics.

7. Academic Integrity and Misconduct

Undisclosed, deceptive, or inappropriate use of GenAI tools may be treated as academic or research misconduct. This includes, but is not limited to:

• AI-generated plagiarism or inappropriate paraphrasing.
• Fabrication or falsification of research data and results.
• Generation of fictitious references or citations.
• Manipulation of scientific images, figures, or tables.
• Submission of misleading, inaccurate, or unverifiable scientific content.
• Unauthorized disclosure of confidential manuscripts or research information.
• Misrepresentation of AI-generated material as the authors’ original intellectual contribution.
• Failure to disclose substantial GenAI assistance.

When inappropriate use of GenAI is suspected, Jurnal Lahan Suboptimal: Journal of Suboptimal Lands reserves the right to request explanations, disclosure statements, original data, analysis files, unprocessed images, or other supporting documentation from the authors.

The journal may conduct additional editorial, plagiarism, image-integrity, reference-verification, or research-integrity checks.

Depending on the nature and severity of the violation, the journal may take appropriate action, including:

• Returning the manuscript to the authors for clarification or revision.
• Rejecting the manuscript.
• Withdrawing an accepted manuscript before publication.
• Publishing a correction, expression of concern, or retraction.
• Restricting future submissions from the responsible authors.
• Notifying the authors’ institutions, research funders, or other relevant authorities when necessary.

All suspected cases will be handled in accordance with the journal’s publication ethics policies and applicable guidelines on research and publication integrity.

8. Responsibility and Declaration

By submitting a manuscript to Jurnal Lahan Suboptimal: Journal of Suboptimal Lands, the authors confirm that:

1. They have reviewed and verified all content produced or modified with the assistance of GenAI tools.
2. The manuscript does not contain fabricated, falsified, plagiarized, misleading, or confidential content generated through GenAI.
3. Any substantial use of GenAI has been transparently disclosed in the manuscript.
4. All listed authors take full responsibility for the accuracy, originality, integrity, and validity of the submitted work.

Failure to provide an accurate GenAI disclosure may result in editorial action under the journal’s publication ethics and misconduct policies.

9. Policy Updates

GenAI technologies, legal requirements, ethical standards, and international publishing practices continue to evolve. Therefore, Jurnal Lahan Suboptimal: Journal of Suboptimal Lands may periodically review and revise this policy.

Any revisions or updates will be published on the journal’s official website and will apply from the date specified in the updated policy.