Purpose

To ensure responsible, transparent, and ethical use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools in research and manuscript preparation in line with HEC (2024), COPE, and ICMJE recommendations.

Acceptable Uses

  • Grammar, spelling, and language editing (e.g., Grammar, Chat-GPT for proofreading).
  • Data visualization, formatting, or basic statistical assistance when results are human verified.
  • Reference formatting or literature screening support.

Unacceptable Uses

  • Generating original text, hypotheses, interpretations, or conclusions.
  • Fabricating data, results, or references.
  • Submitting AI-generated manuscripts or figures without human oversight.
  • Listing AI as an author.

Disclosure

  • Authors must declare all AI tool usage in the Acknowledgments or Methods section.
    Failure to disclose may result in rejection or retraction.