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RESEARCH GUIDES

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Scholarly Communications

This guide is intended to highlight the ways in which AI can be integrated into various aspects of the research and publishing process and what we should consider when deciding whether AI tools are the right fit for our individual practice

Artificial Intelligence and Scholarly Communications Graphic

AI and Publisher Policies

Over the past few years most academic publishers and publications have developed stated policies around the use of artificial intelligence in developing written research, particularly with regard to generative AI tools. Professional organizations like the Committee on Publishing Ethics (COPE) and the World Association of Medical Editors (WAME) have also weighed in on the use of AI in academic publishing, while many grant funders have also created rules around the use of AI in sponsored research. 

Screenshotted text for AI policies from Elsevier, Cambridge University Press, Committee on Publication Ethics, and SAGE publishing

Examples of four AI policies from the publishers Elsevier, Cambridge University Press, Sage, and the organization Committee on Publication Ethics

In addition, many individual publications have developed their own positions and verbiage related to the use of AI. If you are considering using an AI tool at any point in your research or writing process, it is essential that you review the policy of your intended publisher or title to ensure that you do not disqualify yourself from submitting your work and/or properly record your actions for disclosure. Over the past few years, many publishers have softened from a stance of more extreme AI skepticism to a recognition of the potential benefits and ubiquity of AI tools, even in the academic space. 

Publisher policies related to AI will commonly:

  • Stress the limitations and sometimes restrict the use of AI authorship with regard to copyright, both in written content and other forms of media. 
  • Highlight the importance of transparency and disclosure 
  • Encourage authors to carefully review any work generated or altered by AI to ensure accuracy, validity, and to guard against plagiarism
  • Make distinctions between “AI assistance” and “Generative AI” 

Most publishers still stress that AI should not generally be used as an authoring tool, or contribute significantly to the composition of written research. Within nearly all academic disciplines and communities, we still value human ingenuity and authorship, which cannot be replaced by large language models. However, tools used along the way in research, analysis, visualization/illustration, and sometimes in the construction of supporting elements of a publication (such as a bibliography) may be permitted.

AI-assisted tasks may include (but are not limited to):

  • Searching for and summarizing academic papers
  • Outlining and structuring in the early stages of drafting a publication
  • Assistance with correcting grammatical errors or writing in a non-native language
  • Translations
  • Creating tables, figures, and visualizations
  • Formatting bibliographies and works cited lists
  • Generating accessibility components, such as transcripts and alt-text

It will depend on your publisher's/publication's definitions of AI generated elements and/or AI assistance and their attitudes toward various applications of these tools whether you can employ artificial intelligence while doing any of these tasks.