Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Peer Review Policy

Policy Statement

The International Journal of Research on Multidisciplinary Studies (IJROMS) acknowledges the increasing integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies in scholarly communication. While AI tools may provide limited assistance in language refinement and workflow efficiency, the journal strictly regulates their use in the peer review process to preserve confidentiality, intellectual property, and the integrity of scholarly evaluation. IJROMS upholds that peer review is a human-centered, ethical, and accountable process. This policy is aligned with international standards.

Scope

This policy applies to external peer reviewers, editorial board members, guest editors, editors, and associate editors. It governs all stages of the peer review process, including manuscript evaluation, reviewer reporting, and editorial decision-making.

Core Principles of Ethical Peer Review

All peer review activities at IJROMS must adhere to the following principles:

Confidentiality: Manuscripts are privileged documents and must not be shared.
Independence: Reviews must be free from external influence.
Objectivity: Evaluations must be evidence-based and unbiased.
Accountability: Reviewers are fully responsible for their assessments.
Integrity: Scholarly judgment must not be delegated to automated systems.

AI tools must not compromise any of these principles.

Permitted Use of AI Tools (Limited and Conditional)

Reviewers may use AI tools in a strictly limited and non-substantive manner, including:

  • Language editing for grammar, spelling, or clarity of reviewer comments.
  • Structuring or organizing reviewer notes written by the reviewer.
  • Minor readability improvements of reviewer feedback.

Conditions:

  • No manuscript content may be input into AI systems.
  • AI must not influence scientific judgment.
  • The reviewer remains fully responsible for all outputs.

Strictly Prohibited Use of AI Tools

To protect confidentiality and research integrity, reviewers are strictly prohibited from:

  • Uploading any part of the manuscript (text, tables, figures, data) into AI tools.
  • Using AI to generate, draft, or substantially write peer review reports.
  • Relying on AI to assess novelty, methodology, results, or conclusions.
  • Using AI to detect plagiarism or ethical issues in place of journal systems.
  • Sharing manuscript content with any third-party AI platform.
  • Using AI tools that store, learn from, or redistribute submitted data.
  • Delegating peer review responsibilities to AI systems.

Any such use is considered a serious breach of publication ethics.

Confidentiality and Data Protection

  • All manuscripts under review are strictly confidential intellectual property.
  • AI platforms may store or reuse submitted data, posing risks of data leakage.
  • Reviewers must not expose manuscript content to any external system.
  • Compliance with data protection standards is mandatory.

Violation of confidentiality may lead to immediate removal and sanctions.

Human Oversight and Responsibility

  • Peer review must be conducted entirely under human intellectual control.
  • Reviewers are solely accountable for the accuracy, fairness, and quality of their reports.
  • AI tools cannot be credited, acknowledged, or recognized as contributors.
  • The final review must reflect the reviewer’s independent scholarly judgment.

Disclosure and Transparency

  • Reviewers must disclose to the editor if AI tools were used in any capacity.
  • Disclosure should specify the nature and extent of use.
  • Undisclosed use of AI may be treated as ethical misconduct.

Editorial Oversight and Monitoring

Editors are responsible for informing reviewers of AI usage policies, monitoring for AI-generated or low-quality review patterns, identifying inconsistencies or automated language indicators, and ensuring compliance with ethical peer review standards.

Editors may reject reviews suspected of improper AI use.

Investigation and Enforcement

Suspected violations will be assessed by the editorial office, reviewed in accordance with ethical guidelines, and documented and investigated confidentially.

Actions may include a request for clarification from the reviewer, rejection of the review report, and reassignment of the manuscript.

Sanctions for Policy Violations

Confirmed misuse of AI tools may result in immediate removal from the reviewer pool, rejection of all associated reviews, temporary or permanent ban from reviewing, notification to the reviewer’s institution in serious cases, and exclusion from editorial roles.

Policy Review and Updates

This policy will be periodically reviewed to reflect advancements in AI technologies. Updates will be published on the journal website. Reviewers are expected to comply with the most current version.

Commitment to Ethical Innovation

IJROMS supports responsible and ethical innovation in scholarly publishing. While AI tools may assist in limited editorial support functions, the journal firmly maintains that peer review is a human responsibility, ethical standards must not be compromised, and academic integrity is paramount.