Generative AI Policy

Purpose

Scientific Review of Transport recognizes that Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) and AI-assisted technologies may support authors, reviewers, and editors in the publishing process. At the same time, the use of such technologies must be transparent, responsible, ethical, and consistent with the principles of research integrity. This policy applies to all manuscripts submitted to the journal and aligns with the principles adopted by major international scientific publishers and publication ethics organizations.
 
General Principles
 
Human authors remain fully responsible and accountable for the accuracy, originality, integrity, and scientific validity of all submitted content, including any content generated or assisted by AI tools. Generative AI systems cannot be listed as authors or co-authors because they cannot assume responsibility for the work, declare conflicts of interest, or manage copyright and publishing agreements. The use of AI tools must never replace scientific judgment, critical thinking, interpretation, analysis, or scholarly responsibility. Authors must ensure transparency regarding any significant use of Generative AI during manuscript preparation.
 
Acceptable Use of Generative AI
 
Authors may use Generative AI technologies for:
  • language improvement, grammar correction, and readability enhancement;
  • translation of manuscripts;
  • content organization and structure optimization;
  • literature exploration and identification of potentially relevant sources;
  • code formatting and technical editing;
  • generation of illustrative graphics, provided that their AI origin is clearly disclosed.
All outputs produced by AI tools must be critically reviewed and verified by the authors before submission.
 
Prohibited Uses
 
The following practices are not permitted:
  • Listing AI systems as authors or co-authors;
  • Fabricating, manipulating, or falsifying research data using AI;
  • Generating fictitious references or citations;
  • Submitting AI-generated content without human verification;
  • Using AI to create false, misleading, or deceptive scientific results;
  • Using confidential peer-review materials as prompts in public AI systems;
  • Uploading confidential manuscript content to AI platforms that may compromise privacy, intellectual property, or copyright.
Violation of these provisions may result in rejection, retraction, or other editorial actions in accordance with COPE guidelines.
 
Disclosure Requirements for Authors
 
If Generative AI has been used beyond routine spelling and grammar correction, authors must declare its use in a dedicated section. The declaration should include:
  • name of the AI tool;
  • version, if available;
  • purpose of use;
  • extent of use;
  • confirmation that all outputs were reviewed and validated by the authors.

Example for Disclosure Statement:
During the preparation of this manuscript, the authors used ChatGPT (OpenAI) to improve language quality and assist in the organization of the manuscript structure. All AI-generated suggestions were critically reviewed, revised, and validated by the authors, who retain full responsibility for the content of this article.

Use of AI in Research Methods

When AI tools form part of the research methodology (e.g., machine learning, large language models, automated text analysis, image recognition, prediction models), authors must provide sufficient methodological information to ensure reproducibility and scientific evaluation. Authors should describe:
  • software and model used;
  • version and configuration;
  • training data sources (where applicable);
  • prompts, parameters, or workflows;
  • validation procedures;
  • limitations and potential biases.

Reviewers

Reviewers must not upload submitted manuscripts, reviewer reports, data, figures, or supplementary materials into public or third-party AI systems because doing so may violate confidentiality obligations.
AI tools may not be used to generate peer-review reports without prior approval from the Editors. Reviewers remain fully responsible for all review comments submitted to the journal.
 
Editors
 
Editors may use AI-assisted tools for administrative and technical support, provided that confidentiality and data protection are preserved. Editorial decisions must always be made exclusively by human editors.
 
Policy Review
 
Given the rapid evolution of Generative AI technologies, Scientific Review of Transport reserves the right to revise this policy periodically in accordance with international publishing standards and SCOPUS requirements.