Artificial intelligence assistance in scholarly manuscript writing

Abstract

Only those not living on our planet will fail to recognize the tsunami-like effects of artificial intelligence (AI) applications in practically all spheres of our lives today. This Editorial aims to restrict discussion on the role of generative AI in scholarly manuscripts intended for publication in peer-reviewed legitimate journals. A near-exhaustive search of the relevant websites on AI assistance in manuscript preparation shows that, as of now, there are no universally agreed strict roles of generative AI on scientific manuscripts for publication. What appears to be agreed on with the least disputations is as follows: AI plays a vital role in the preparation of scholarly manuscripts Authors must acknowledge the AI assistance by in-text citation and/or a separate acknowledgment section at the end of the manuscript The level of AI assistance (%) in a manuscript varies Journals, publishers, universities, colleges, and institutes have some additional requirements on the use of AI assistance. A very conspicuous disagreement is whether the authors should or should not cite AI as an author! Many journals demand an AI citation as an author under References! Many others do not. In the absence of universal substantial agreements (at least for now) on the transparent use of AI assistance in research, manuscript preparation, peer-reviewing, and publication, this Editorial proposes that authors use the simplified recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journals Editors (ICMJE) in scholarly manuscript writing and submission. They are as follows: AI assistance in manuscript writing is acceptable and not discouraged Authors must disclose the use of AI assistance in the letter accompanying the manuscript submission Authors must also disclose AI use in sections of the manuscripts where used, that is, in-text citations and/or a separate acknowledgment section must be at the end of the manuscript AI cannot be cited as an author under any circumstances, for example, under “References” Authors should cautiously use AI both for manuscript writing and for reviewing. For access to the full unedited version of the ICMJE recommendations on “Artificial Intelligence (AI) Assistance Technology” you may refer to the ICMJE April 2025 Updated Recommendation for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals.[1] The most relevant part of the 20-page document on AI assistance is in Section 11.A.3. In the near future, we hope to see a substantial, universally accepted agreement on the ethical, transparent, responsible, and legal use of AI tools in scholarly manuscript preparation.

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