GENERATIVE AI POLICIES

When authors, editors, and reviewers may and may not use generative AI.

This policy applies to the authors, the editors, and the peer reviewers of Jurnal Akuntansi dan Keuangan (AKUA). It is based on guidance from STM, Elsevier, and WAME. Please read it together with the Publication Ethics and the Authorship and Contributorship pages.

People remain responsible

Generative AI can support the work of a researcher, but it cannot replace human judgment, human authorship, or human accountability. Everyone who uses these tools stays fully responsible for the result.

AI as an author

Never allowed

Use in a manuscript

Allowed with verification and disclosure

Images, figures, and research data

Must not be created or altered by AI

Unpublished manuscripts

Editors and reviewers must not upload them to AI tools

1. Introduction

◆ 1.1 Purpose

This policy sets out when the authors, the editors, and the peer reviewers of AKUA may and may not use generative AI tools. AKUA will revise the policy as standards and practices change.

◆ 1.2 Potential benefits

The journal recognizes that generative AI can help with the following.

Development of ideasThe research workflowData analysisQuality of writingSupport for authors who do not write in their first languageFaster dissemination of research

◆ 1.3 Definition and examples

Generative AI produces text, images, audio, or synthetic data. Examples of such tools are the following.

ChatGPTCopilotGeminiClaudeNovelAIJasper AI

◆ 1.4 Risks

Risk	What can happen
1. Inaccuracy and bias	The output may be wrong, biased, or fabricated. A fabricated output is often called a “hallucination”.
2. Weak attribution	The output may name the wrong source for an idea, a quotation, or a citation.
3. Confidentiality and intellectual property	A platform of a third party may expose confidential or protected material.
4. Unintended secondary use	The provider of a tool may reuse inputs and outputs, for example to train its models.

2. Policy at a Glance

◆ Allowed, with conditions

Use of generative AI	Condition
✓ Improving grammar, language quality, and readability, and translating the text of the authors	The authors verify the output and disclose the use.
✓ Generating ideas, searching and categorizing literature, and supporting coding	The authors verify the output and disclose the use.
✓ Studying AI tools, or using them within a study, an intervention, or an instrument	The use is described in the Research Method section.

◆ Not allowed

Listing an AI tool as an author.

Submitting AI generated text or code that has not been reviewed and edited.

Replacing missing empirical data with synthetic data without a sound methodology.

Creating or altering images, figures, or original research data.

Citing AI generated references that have not been verified.

Uploading unpublished manuscripts or related files to AI tools (editors and reviewers).

Using AI to evaluate, summarize, or assess a manuscript (reviewers). The only exception is the use of AI to improve the language of the review report.

3. Authors

What authors must know and do

3.1 Permitted use

◆

Authors may use tools that are based on GPT, such as ChatGPT, to improve grammar, language quality, and readability.

◆

Other allowed uses are generating ideas, enhancing the writing, searching the literature interactively with large language models, categorizing the literature, and supporting coding.

◆

Authors may translate their own text, such as the abstract, but they must check that the translation is accurate.

3.2 Accountability and human authorship

◆

Authors remain fully responsible for the originality, the accuracy, the validity, and the ethics of their work, and they must verify all content that AI helped to produce.

◆

Authors must follow the policies on Authorship and Contributorship and Publication Ethics.

◆

The work must be written fundamentally by humans, it must meet scholarly standards, and it must show human oversight and transparency throughout the research process.

◆

AKUA decides whether a manuscript is published.

3.3 AI tools cannot be authors

An AI tool cannot be credited as an author, because it cannot take responsibility for a work, cannot consent to publication, and cannot sign a copyright or licensing agreement.

3.4 Prohibited reliance on AI

◆

A manuscript must not contain text or code that AI produced and that the authors have not reviewed and edited.

◆

A manuscript must not contain synthetic data that replace missing empirical data, unless a sound and clearly described methodology is used.

◆

A manuscript must not contain inaccurate content that AI produced, including in the abstract and in the supplementary material.

◆

Such practices may lead to an editorial review or an investigation.

3.5 Images, figures, and data

◆

Generative AI must not create or alter images, figures, or original research data that are intended for publication. This covers charts, tables, images and parts of images, code, and formulas, and it covers original data such as financial data, survey responses, and interview transcripts.

◆

Adding, removing, hiding, or moving elements of an image counts as an alteration.

3.6 References and citations

◆

AI can generate references that look real but do not exist. Authors must verify every reference and every DOI against the original source.

◆

A fabricated or falsified reference is treated as research misconduct under the Plagiarism Policy.

3.7 Research about AI

◆

A study of the use of generative AI, for example by accountants, auditors, or financial analysts, and a study that uses AI as part of an intervention, a tool, or an instrument, differ from the use of AI to prepare a manuscript.

◆

Such a study must describe in the Research Method section the tool, its version, how it was used, and the relevant settings, so that other researchers can evaluate the study.

3.8 Confidentiality and participant data

◆

Authors must not upload personal or identifiable data of respondents, interviewees, or other participants, confidential data that an organization provided, or unpublished research data to an AI tool, unless the consent of the participants allows it and the terms of the tool give adequate protection.

◆

Authors must confirm that any tool they use adequately protects intellectual property, confidentiality, and data security.

◆ 3.9 Disclosure

Any use of AI in the preparation of a manuscript must be disclosed. The statement must contain the following.

The name of the toolThe version of the toolHow it was usedThe purpose of the use

◆ Where to place the statement

Kind of use	Section of the manuscript
The tool was part of the research process, for example coding support or the categorization of literature	Research Method
The tool was used for language editing or translation	Acknowledgements

◆ Example of a disclosure statement

Template

During the preparation of this manuscript, the authors used [name and version of the tool] to [purpose of use]. The authors reviewed and edited the output and take full responsibility for the content of the manuscript.

Replace the text in square brackets with the real details. The statement must describe what was actually done.

The Manuscript Preparation page and the Author Guidelines explain where the sections of the manuscript belong.

4. Editors and Peer Reviewers

Do not upload unpublished material

Uploading an unpublished manuscript, an image, a file, or related information to a generative AI tool is prohibited, because it may breach confidentiality and the intellectual property rights of the authors.

What editors and reviewers must know and do

4.1 Editors

◆

Editors must protect the confidentiality of submissions and of the review.

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Editors must not upload unpublished manuscripts or related materials to AI platforms.

4.2 Peer reviewers

◆

Reviewers must not use AI to evaluate, summarize, or assess a manuscript or a proposal.

◆

Reviewers must not upload unpublished content, including files and images, to AI tools.

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AI may be used only to improve the language of the review report.

◆

Reviewers remain fully responsible for the accuracy, the judgment, and the integrity of their reviews.

◆

5. Handling of Violations

A violation is suspected

It is examined under the policy on misconduct

The outcome depends on the severity

◆

A suspected violation is examined under the Allegations of Misconduct policy.

◆

The outcome depends on the severity of the violation. For a submitted manuscript it may be one of the following.

A request for clarification or revisionRejection of the manuscript

◆

For a published article, the action follows the Correction and Retraction policy.

◆

A conflict of interest that is related to the use of an AI tool must be declared, as required by the Conflicts of Interest policy.

Related Pages and Enquiries

Topic	Page
Where the disclosure statement belongs	Manuscript Preparation and Author Guidelines
Who may be an author	Authorship and Contributorship
Ethical duties of all parties	Publication Ethics
Fabricated references and plagiarism	Plagiarism Policy
Peer review	Peer Review Process
Suspected misconduct	Allegations of Misconduct
Correcting or retracting articles	Correction and Retraction
Declaring conflicts of interest	Conflicts of Interest