AI Guidance

Guidelines for Responsible AI Usage in the Journal of Teaching and Education for Scholars (JOTES)

JOTES acknowledges the rapid advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its increasing role in academic research. To maintain academic integrity, transparency, and ethical standards, JOTES has established the following guidelines regarding the use of AI tools (e.g., Large Language Models, generative AI, data analysis algorithms) in the publication process.

For Authors

A. Ethical and Responsible Use

  • Authors are required to transparently declare any use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools in the research process, including data collection, analysis, or writing assistance (e.g., language polishing).

  • Proper attribution and methodological explanation must be provided for any AI-generated content or analysis integrated into the manuscript.

  • AI tools cannot be listed as an author or co-author. Authorship requires human accountability, legal responsibility, and the ability to approve the final version of the work.

  • Authors must comply with applicable privacy regulations and obtain informed consent if AI tools are used to process personal, educational, or sensitive research data.

  • It is the authors’ absolute responsibility to recognize and mitigate potential biases within AI systems to ensure that the research outcomes remain valid, fair, and impartial.

B. AI in Research Methodology and Data Analysis

  • Authors should critically assess the appropriateness of using AI tools in line with their research objectives, particularly regarding tool accuracy and reliability within the fields of teaching models, education, and learning strategies.

  • Any results derived using AI assistance must be independently validated by the authors using standard, scientifically rigorous research protocols.

  • JOTES encourages the use of interpretable AI models that offer explainable outputs to support methodological clarity and foster a deeper understanding of the educational findings.

C. Academic Integrity and Originality

  • Any assistance from AI must be explicitly acknowledged in the methodology or acknowledgements section, in accordance with accepted academic citation standards.

  • Manuscripts submitted to JOTES must strictly reflect the authors’ original contributions, analytical thinking, and scientific creativity. Submissions should never rely solely on AI-generated content, arguments, or formulations.

D. Transparency in Collaboration

  • Authors are expected to disclose AI usage when engaging with co-authors or collaborators to ensure transparency and support ethical academic dialogue.

  • Collaborative research teams should establish clear agreements regarding the use of AI tools and data handling from the outset of their project.

For Reviewers

  • Strict Confidentiality: Reviewers must treat all submitted manuscripts as highly confidential documents.

  • Prohibition of AI Uploads: Reviewers are strictly prohibited from uploading the manuscript, or any part of it, into public generative AI tools (e.g., ChatGPT, Gemini, etc.) to assist with their review. Doing so violates confidentiality, proprietary rights, and data privacy.

  • Reviewers are fully and solely responsible for the content, critical evaluation, and recommendations provided in their review reports.

For Editors

  • Editors must treat all submitted manuscripts and peer-review correspondence as strictly confidential.

  • Editors must refrain from uploading unpublished manuscripts into generative AI tools for screening, summarizing, or decision-making to avoid violating the authors' confidentiality and intellectual property rights.