AI and Generative AI Policy

CETHE: Journal of Creative Economics and Trading Halal Ecosystem recognizes the increasing role of generative artificial intelligence (AI) and AI-assisted technologies in academic research and scholarly publishing. The journal permits the responsible use of generative AI while maintaining the principles of academic integrity, transparency, originality, accountability, confidentiality, and responsible scholarly communication.

This policy is informed by internationally recognized principles for responsible scholarly publishing, including guidance from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and recommendations concerning the use of AI in scholarly communication.

1. Permitted Use of Generative AI

Authors may use generative AI and AI-assisted technologies for limited and responsible purposes, including:

  • improving grammar, spelling, punctuation, and language clarity;

  • improving readability and academic expression;

  • translating text between languages;

  • assisting with manuscript organization and formatting;

  • supporting preliminary brainstorming or idea development;

  • assisting with coding, programming, data processing, or other technical tasks; and

  • supporting other non-substantive editorial activities.

The use of AI must not replace the author's intellectual contribution, scholarly judgment, critical reasoning, research expertise, or responsibility for the submitted work.

2. Disclosure of Generative AI Use

Authors must disclose the use of generative AI or AI-assisted technologies when these tools have made a substantive contribution to the preparation of the manuscript.

Where applicable, authors should include a statement entitled:

“Declaration of Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies in the Writing Process.”

A suitable disclosure statement is:

During the preparation of this manuscript, the authors used [name of AI tool] for [describe the specific purpose]. The authors subsequently reviewed, verified, and edited the output and take full responsibility for the content of the published article.

Authors should provide sufficient information to allow editors and readers to understand the nature and extent of AI assistance.

Routine use of conventional spelling, grammar, or reference-management software does not normally require disclosure unless the software uses generative AI in a substantive manner.

3. AI Cannot Be Listed as an Author

Generative AI tools, large language models, and other AI systems cannot be listed as authors or co-authors.

Authorship requires human accountability for the research and publication. AI systems cannot accept responsibility for the accuracy and integrity of a manuscript, disclose conflicts of interest, provide consent to publication, or participate in the editorial process as an accountable author.

Accordingly, all authors listed on a CETHE manuscript must be human individuals who meet the journal's authorship requirements.

4. Accuracy and Verification

Authors remain fully responsible for all content generated, modified, translated, summarized, or otherwise assisted by AI.

Authors must independently verify AI-assisted:

  • factual claims;

  • statistical information;

  • quotations;

  • citations and references;

  • theoretical interpretations;

  • research findings;

  • equations and technical information; and

  • other scholarly statements.

Generative AI systems can produce inaccurate, fabricated, incomplete, or misleading information. AI-generated references and citations must therefore be checked against the original scholarly sources before submission.

Authors must not cite nonexistent publications, fabricated sources, or unverifiable references generated by AI.

5. Originality and Academic Integrity

The use of generative AI must comply with CETHE's policies on originality, plagiarism, research integrity, and publication ethics.

Authors must not use generative AI to:

  • fabricate or invent research data;

  • falsify or manipulate research results;

  • fabricate research participants or observations;

  • generate fictitious references or citations;

  • conceal plagiarism or duplicate publication;

  • misrepresent AI-generated material as independently produced scholarly work;

  • manipulate images or research evidence in a misleading manner; or

  • circumvent the journal's peer-review or editorial procedures.

AI assistance does not reduce or transfer the author's responsibility for academic integrity.

6. AI-Assisted Data Analysis and Programming

Generative AI may be used to assist with programming, coding, data processing, statistical procedures, or other technical aspects of research when appropriate.

Where AI makes a substantive contribution to data analysis or programming, authors should describe the use of AI in the Methods section or another appropriate section of the manuscript.

The disclosure should identify, where applicable:

  • the AI tool or system used;

  • the model or version, where available;

  • the purpose of its use;

  • the procedures or tasks performed;

  • the relevant prompts or workflow where necessary for reproducibility; and

  • the procedures used by the authors to verify the output.

AI-generated analysis must not be accepted without appropriate human verification and methodological assessment.

7. AI-Generated Images, Figures, Tables, and Other Materials

Authors must disclose the use of generative AI to create or substantially modify:

  • images;

  • photographs;

  • figures;

  • diagrams;

  • tables;

  • illustrations;

  • graphical abstracts; or

  • other visual or multimedia materials.

AI-generated or AI-modified materials must not misrepresent empirical evidence, research results, or original observations.

Authors are responsible for ensuring that AI-generated materials comply with applicable copyright, licensing, ethical, and intellectual-property requirements.

Where the use of generative AI is inappropriate for a particular research context, CETHE may request that the material be removed, replaced, or appropriately disclosed.

8. Protection of Confidential and Sensitive Information

Authors, reviewers, and editors must exercise particular caution when using generative AI systems.

Confidential, unpublished, personally identifiable, proprietary, commercially sensitive, or otherwise restricted information should not be entered into publicly accessible AI systems where doing so could compromise confidentiality or data protection.

This includes:

  • unpublished manuscripts;

  • confidential research data;

  • personal information of research participants;

  • reviewer reports;

  • editorial correspondence;

  • proprietary datasets; and

  • confidential information belonging to authors, institutions, or third parties.

Users of AI systems must comply with applicable institutional, legal, ethical, and data-protection requirements.

9. Generative AI in Peer Review

Peer reviewers must maintain strict confidentiality concerning manuscripts and all materials received during the peer-review process.

Reviewers should not upload manuscripts, sections of manuscripts, reviewer reports, unpublished findings, or confidential editorial materials to generative AI systems unless explicitly permitted by the journal and appropriate confidentiality protections are in place.

Reviewers remain personally responsible for the content, accuracy, confidentiality, and scholarly judgment expressed in their review reports.

10. Generative AI in Editorial and Publishing Processes

Editors and editorial staff may use AI-assisted technologies for appropriate administrative or technical purposes, provided that such use does not compromise:

  • manuscript confidentiality;

  • reviewer confidentiality;

  • author privacy;

  • editorial independence;

  • research integrity; or

  • fairness in editorial decision-making.

AI tools must not independently determine acceptance, rejection, or other substantive editorial decisions. Final editorial decisions remain the responsibility of qualified human editors.

11. Editorial Assessment and AI Detection

CETHE may assess the use of generative AI when concerns arise regarding authorship, originality, research integrity, fabricated references, or undisclosed AI assistance.

The journal may request authors to provide clarification concerning:

  • whether AI tools were used;

  • the specific AI tool or model;

  • the purpose of AI use;

  • the sections or materials affected;

  • the extent of AI assistance; and

  • the procedures used to verify AI-generated output.

AI-detection software, when used, will not be considered sufficient evidence on its own to establish academic misconduct. Editorial assessment will consider the available evidence, manuscript content, author explanations, and applicable publication-ethics principles.

12. Undisclosed or Inappropriate AI Use

Failure to disclose substantive AI use may constitute a breach of the journal's publication policies where disclosure is required.

If inappropriate or undisclosed AI use is identified before publication, CETHE may require:

  • clarification from the authors;

  • additional disclosure;

  • revision of the manuscript;

  • removal or replacement of inappropriate AI-generated material;

  • additional editorial assessment; or

  • rejection of the manuscript where the issue substantially compromises research integrity.

If such issues are identified after publication, the journal may consider appropriate corrective action in accordance with its Article Retraction, Correction & Withdrawal Policy and applicable publication-ethics principles.

13. Human Accountability

The use of generative AI does not transfer responsibility from authors to the AI system.

Authors remain responsible for:

  • the originality of their work;

  • the accuracy of the manuscript;

  • the validity of the research methodology;

  • the interpretation of findings;

  • the authenticity of references;

  • compliance with ethical requirements;

  • appropriate disclosure of AI use; and

  • the final published version of the article.

The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that all co-authors are aware of and comply with this policy.

14. Transparency and Responsible Use

CETHE encourages authors to use AI technologies responsibly, transparently, and proportionately.

AI should function as an assistive technology rather than a substitute for human scholarly expertise, critical thinking, methodological judgment, or intellectual contribution.

The journal supports responsible innovation in academic publishing while prioritizing research integrity and trust in the scholarly record.

15. Policy Updates

CETHE may periodically update this policy in response to developments in generative AI technology, research ethics, copyright and intellectual-property standards, data-protection requirements, and recommendations from organizations such as COPE.

Authors, reviewers, editors, and other contributors are expected to comply with the version of this policy applicable at the time of their participation in the journal's editorial and publication processes.