AI Policy for Editors
The International Research Journal of Economics and Management Studies (IRJEMS) recognizes the growing capabilities of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) and AI-assisted technologies in supporting academic and publishing workflows. While such technologies may offer efficiencies in information processing, language enhancement, content summarization, and administrative support, their use within the editorial process must be governed by the principles of confidentiality, research integrity, impartiality, transparency, and professional responsibility.
All manuscripts submitted to IRJEMS are regarded as confidential documents. Editors are entrusted with safeguarding the intellectual property, unpublished research findings, personal information, and proprietary content contained within submitted manuscripts. Consequently, editors must not upload manuscripts, manuscript excerpts, supplementary files, reviewer reports, author responses, decision letters, or any other confidential editorial materials into publicly accessible generative AI systems or third-party AI platforms. Such actions may compromise author confidentiality, violate copyright and intellectual property protections, expose sensitive or unpublished research data, and potentially breach applicable data protection and privacy regulations.
This obligation extends to all forms of editorial communication associated with the manuscript evaluation process. Communications between editors, reviewers, authors, editorial board members, and publishing staff frequently contain confidential information that is not intended for public disclosure. Therefore, editors should refrain from submitting editorial correspondence, reviewer comments, decision notifications, revision recommendations, or related communications to generative AI tools, even when the intended purpose is limited to language editing, summarization, readability improvement, or drafting assistance. Protecting the confidentiality and integrity of the editorial process remains a fundamental responsibility of every editor.
Peer review serves as a cornerstone of scholarly publishing and is essential to maintaining scientific quality, credibility, and trust. The assessment of a manuscript’s originality, significance, methodological rigor, ethical compliance, theoretical contribution, practical relevance, and suitability for publication requires expert human judgment. Accordingly, editors must not use generative AI or AI-assisted technologies to evaluate scientific merit, determine manuscript acceptance or rejection, assess reviewer recommendations, or make editorial decisions on submitted manuscripts. Such responsibilities require critical thinking, contextual understanding, disciplinary expertise, ethical reasoning, and professional judgment that cannot be delegated to automated systems.
Although AI technologies continue to evolve rapidly, they remain susceptible to producing inaccurate, incomplete, misleading, inconsistent, or biased outputs. Reliance on AI-generated evaluations may result in inappropriate editorial decisions, unfair treatment of authors, or the overlooking of important scientific, methodological, or ethical considerations. Editors are therefore expected to exercise independent judgment and remain fully accountable for all editorial assessments, recommendations, and publication decisions.
Editors may utilize AI-assisted technologies for limited administrative or operational purposes where confidentiality is fully protected and where such tools do not influence editorial judgment. Examples may include workflow management, scheduling, metadata organization, plagiarism screening, technical quality checks, language assistance for non-confidential administrative documents, and other publishing support activities approved by the journal. However, the use of AI tools must never compromise the confidentiality of submitted materials or replace the editor’s responsibility for independent decision-making.
Authors submitting manuscripts to IRJEMS may employ generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in accordance with the journal’s AI Policy for Authors. Such usage must be appropriately disclosed where required and must comply with the journal’s standards for transparency, originality, research integrity, and ethical publishing. When reviewing submitted manuscripts, editors should consider any disclosed use of AI in accordance with established editorial policies and publication ethics guidelines.
If an editor suspects that an author, reviewer, or any participant in the publication process has used AI technologies in a manner that violates journal policies, publication ethics, research integrity standards, or applicable legal requirements, the editor should promptly notify the Editor-in-Chief and publisher for further investigation. Concerns relating to fabricated content, falsified data, undisclosed AI-generated material, manipulated images, fabricated citations, compromised peer review, or breaches of confidentiality should be addressed through established editorial and ethical review procedures.
IRJEMS may employ proprietary, licensed, or internally managed AI-assisted technologies to support specific publishing operations, including manuscript screening, plagiarism detection, duplicate submission identification, reference verification, reviewer identification, workflow optimization, and quality assurance activities. Such systems are implemented under strict confidentiality, security, privacy, and ethical safeguards. Any AI-assisted technologies utilized by the journal will be subject to appropriate oversight, periodic evaluation, and measures designed to minimize bias while protecting the rights and interests of authors, reviewers, editors, and readers.
IRJEMS supports the responsible exploration and adoption of emerging technologies that can enhance the efficiency, quality, and integrity of scholarly publishing. The journal may continue to evaluate and implement carefully governed AI-assisted solutions that support editorial operations while preserving the essential role of human expertise, independent judgment, transparency, confidentiality, and ethical responsibility. Any future use of AI within the editorial process will remain subject to the principles of academic integrity, data protection, fairness, accountability, and respect for the scholarly record.
Ultimately, responsibility for editorial decisions rests exclusively with human editors. Generative AI and AI-assisted technologies may serve as supplementary tools in limited and appropriately governed contexts, but they cannot assume editorial authority, professional accountability, or decision-making responsibilities. Editors of IRJEMS are expected to uphold the highest standards of confidentiality, objectivity, fairness, and scholarly integrity throughout the editorial and peer-review process.