Author Use of Artificial Ingelligence (AI)

2023-04-04

Responsible use of GenAI

Authors who choose to use GenAI tools should carefully review the terms of service of the platform they intend to use. Some AI providers may retain user inputs or use submitted content to train or improve their models unless users explicitly opt out. Uploading unpublished manuscripts, research data, confidential information, or other copyright-protected material may therefore compromise authors’ intellectual property rights or confidentiality obligations.

Authors are strongly advised not to upload any manuscript, in whole or in part, to any GenAI platform that does not provide adequate protection against data retention, reuse, or model training. Where available, authors should use institutional or enterprise versions of AI tools that provide appropriate safeguards regarding confidentiality, copyright, and data security.

GenAI tools may assist authors with limited editorial tasks, including:

  • grammar, spelling, and language editing;
  • improving readability and style;
  • translation support;
  • generating alternative text (alt-text) for images;
  • checking references;
  • preparing abstracts or keywords; and
  • other routine editorial or administrative tasks.

Such assistance does not diminish the authors’ responsibility for the accuracy, originality, or integrity of their work.

Principles governing the use of GenAI

  1. Authorship

GenAI tools do not qualify for authorship and may not be listed as authors or co-authors of any submission.

GenAI must not be used to undertake the primary intellectual responsibilities of scholarly authorship, including the development of original arguments, interpretation of evidence, critical analysis, scientific reasoning, or the drawing of conclusions.

Where authors intend to include AI-generated content, including text, figures, images, data analyses, or other substantive material, they must obtain prior written approval from the Editor-in-Chief before submission. SAJHE reserves the right to require that such material be replaced with content generated by the authors.

Where AI-generated material is included for research purposes – for example, when analysing AI outputs or illustrating the capabilities of AI systems – its inclusion must be justified, fully described, and appropriately acknowledged within the manuscript.

  1. Accountability

Authors remain fully responsible for every aspect of the submitted manuscript, irrespective of whether GenAI tools were used during its preparation.

This responsibility includes ensuring:

  • factual accuracy;
  • originality;
  • appropriate citation and attribution;
  • compliance with publication ethics;
  • absence of plagiarism; and
  • the validity of all references and supporting evidence.

Authors should recognise that GenAI systems may generate inaccurate information (“hallucinations”), fabricated citations, misleading interpretations, or biased outputs. Because these systems are trained on datasets that may contain historical, cultural, linguistic, or social biases, their outputs require careful human evaluation and verification.

Authors are responsible for independently checking all AI-generated content before submission.

  1. Disclosure

The use of GenAI tools in the preparation of a manuscript must be disclosed transparently.

Authors must provide a statement describing:

  • the GenAI tool(s) used;
  • the purpose for which the tool was used;
  • the extent to which AI contributed to the preparation of the manuscript; and
  • the measures taken to verify, edit, and assume responsibility for the resulting content.

The disclosure should be included in an Author Declaration or Acknowledgements section, as specified by SAJHE.

The use of GenAI solely for routine language editing or proofreading does not normally require formal citation within the text but should be disclosed where it has made a substantive contribution to manuscript preparation.

June 2026