Generative AI Policy

Policy on the Use of Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies

European Journal of Education (EJED) recognizes the rapid development of generative AI and AI-assisted technologies ("AI Tools") and their potential to support researchers in drafting, formatting, and refining their work. EJED is committed to maintaining the highest standards of publication ethics and research integrity. In alignment with international publishing standards (including Elsevier and COPE guidelines), this policy outlines the permitted uses, restrictions, and mandatory disclosure requirements regarding AI Tools for authors, reviewers, and editors.

1. Policy for Authors

Permitted Use & Responsibility

Authors may use generative AI and AI-assisted technologies (such as Large Language Models or specialized writing assistants) to improve the language, readability, organization, and clarity of their manuscripts, or to assist with literature synthesis and brainstorming.

However, these tools must never be used as a substitute for human critical thinking, academic expertise, or original data interpretation.

  • Human Oversight: AI Tools must always be applied under strict human control.
  • Accountability: Authors are solely and fully accountable for the entire content of their work. This includes verifying the accuracy, comprehensiveness, and impartiality of all AI-generated text, data, and references (as AI tools are known to fabricate or "hallucinate" citations).
  • Data Privacy: Authors must ensure that any tool used complies with strict data confidentiality terms and does not violate intellectual property rights or upload unpublished research data into public AI training sets.

Prohibition on Authorship

AI Tools cannot be listed or cited as an author or co-author on any manuscript submitted to EJED. Authorship implies ethical responsibilities, legal accountability, and tasks that can only be performed by humans (such as approving the final version of the record and ensuring original contribution without plagiarism).

Mandatory Disclosure Statement

Basic checks of grammar, spelling, and punctuation do not require disclosure. However, if generative AI or AI-assisted tools were used in the writing process or manuscript preparation, authors must include a formal disclosure.

The statement must be placed at the end of the manuscript, immediately above the references, entitled: “Declaration of Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies in the Writing Process.”

Required Template for Authors:

“During the preparation of this work, the author(s) used [NAME OF TOOL / SERVICE] in order to [SPECIFY REASON, e.g., improve text readability and structure]. After using this tool/service, the author(s) reviewed and edited the content as needed and take(s) full responsibility for the content of the final publication.”

If AI tools were utilized directly as part of the formal research design, data collection, or statistical analysis, this must instead be fully described in a reproducible manner within the Methods section of the manuscript.

2. Policy on Figures, Images, and Artwork

EJED does not permit the use of generative AI or AI-assisted tools to create, alter, enhance, or manipulate images, graphs, or figures within submitted manuscripts.

  • Standard adjustments to brightness, contrast, or color balance are acceptable, provided they do not obscure, remove, or alter the meaning of the original scientific data.
  • Exception: The only exception is if the use of AI imaging approaches is an intrinsic part of the research methodology itself (e.g., in computer vision research or educational data visualization models). In such cases, the software name, version, manufacturer, and explicit deployment details must be thoroughly outlined in the Methods section.

3. Policy for Editors and Peer Reviewers

To safeguard the peer-review process and maintain absolute confidentiality:

  • Peer Reviewers are strictly prohibited from uploading any submitted manuscripts, abstracts, or metadata into generative AI tools (such as ChatGPT, Claude, etc.) to generate reviews or analyze text. Doing so violates the confidentiality of the author’s unpublished intellectual property and breaches peer-review ethics.
  • Editors must not use generative AI to write decision letters, evaluate papers, or handle manuscripts. Human editorial oversight, judgment, and expertise remain mandatory at every stage of the EJED evaluation workflow.

Policy Review

This policy was adopted in July 2026. EJED continuously monitors developments in artificial intelligence and publication ethics, and will refine these guidelines as required to maintain the highest thresholds of scientific integrity.