Generative AI Policy

Asghar: Journal of Children Studies recognizes the increasing adoption of generative artificial intelligence (Generative AI) and AI-assisted technologies in academic research and scholarly publishing. These tools can assist researchers in organizing thoughts, reviewing relevant literature, identifying gaps in early childhood studies, refining language and readability, and supporting various aspects of manuscript preparation. However, AI technologies must never replace human critical thinking, scholarly judgment, intellectual contribution, or academic responsibility.

This policy applies to all authors, peer reviewers, and editors participating in the publishing workflow of Asghar: Journal of Children Studies.

1. Use of Generative AI by Authors

Authors may utilize Generative AI or AI-assisted technologies strictly as supporting instruments during manuscript development. Permitted applications include:

  • Enhancing grammar, language clarity, readability, and structural organization;

  • Assisting in outlining thoughts or overall manuscript architecture;

  • Aiding literature exploration and identifying core research themes related to children's education;

  • Helping authors comprehend or synthesize complex academic information; and

  • Supporting technical aspects of manuscript preparation without supplanting the authors' core intellectual contributions.

The utilization of AI must always remain under strict human oversight. Authors retain total responsibility for verifying the accuracy, completeness, validity, objectivity, and relevance of any AI-produced content integrated into their manuscript.

Furthermore, authors must independently authenticate all references, citations, factual claims, quotations, data points, and other details suggested or generated by AI, as generative models can occasionally produce inaccurate, biased, incomplete, or fabricated material. Authors are required to thoroughly review and edit AI-assisted text so that the final submission reflects their own original scholarship, analysis, interpretation, and academic arguments.

2. Author Responsibility and Accountability

The deployment of Generative AI does not diminish or transfer authorial accountability. Authors remain exclusively responsible for:

  • The overall integrity and accuracy of the manuscript;

  • The originality of the submitted work;

  • The authenticity and validity of citations and references;

  • Strict compliance with publication and research ethics;

  • The preservation of confidentiality and personal data privacy;

  • The protection of intellectual property and third-party rights; and

  • The precision of all empirical data, qualitative findings, arguments, conclusions, visual figures, and related materials contained within the article.

Authors must also guarantee that any AI tools utilized do not compromise confidentiality, privacy rights, unpublished research materials, or other legally protected information.

3. AI Disclosure Requirement

Authors who employ Generative AI or AI-assisted technologies in a substantive capacity during manuscript preparation must transparently disclose such usage upon submission.

The disclosure must explicitly state:

  • The specific name of the AI tool or platform;

  • The precise purpose for which the tool was deployed;

  • The scope and nature of assistance provided; and

  • A confirmation that the authors carefully reviewed, verified, and edited the resulting output, retaining total responsibility for the final text.

Routine utilization of software exclusively for basic spelling, grammar, or punctuation correction does not require a formal AI disclosure. However, disclosure is mandatory whenever AI substantially alters, generates, reorganizes, summarizes, or develops the content or structure of the manuscript.

Recommended Disclosure Statement

Declaration of Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies in Manuscript Preparation During the preparation of this manuscript, the author(s) utilized [NAME OF AI TOOL/SERVICE] for [PURPOSE OF USE]. Following the application of this tool/service, the author(s) reviewed, verified, and edited the generated content as needed and take full responsibility for the accuracy, integrity, originality, and overall content of the published article.

If Generative AI constitutes an active component of the research methodology itself (such as in computational analysis or data modeling within early childhood research), its application must be explained transparently and reproducibly within the Methods section, including model names, versions, providers, inputs, and validation procedures.

4. AI Cannot Be Listed as an Author

Generative AI systems, large language models (LLMs), chatbots, or similar technology platforms cannot be listed as authors or co-authors of articles published in Asghar: Journal of Children Studies.

Authorship entails responsibilities that can exclusively be fulfilled by human beings, including:

  • Providing a substantial intellectual contribution;

  • Accepting full responsibility for the accuracy and scholarly integrity of the work;

  • Addressing scholarly inquiries concerning the research;

  • Approving the final version of the manuscript; and

  • Granting formal publication consent and assuming legal accountability for the published paper.

Consequently, AI tools must never be cited or credited as authors.

5. Use of AI in Figures, Images, and Data Visualization

The application of Generative AI in visual materials must strictly adhere to principles of research integrity, transparency, accuracy, and reproducibility.

AI-assisted tools may be implemented to support the design of explanatory schematics, such as:

  • Methodological flowcharts;

  • Conceptual diagrams;

  • Decision trees;

  • Chronological timelines;

  • Research workflows; and

  • Other structural illustrations relevant to children's studies.

Where AI contributes substantially to the creation of such visual aids, authors must disclose the tool used and specify its exact role.

For figures representing empirical research data—including statistical charts, developmental graphs, heatmaps, and other data visual representations—AI must never be deployed to fabricate, invent, manipulate, or alter the underlying data. All visualizations must accurately mirror original data sets derived through transparent, reproducible analytical procedures. Generative AI must not be utilized to create fabricated primary research evidence or alter research images in a manner that distorts their scientific meaning.

6. Confidentiality and Data Protection

Authors must carefully review the privacy policies, terms of service, data retention rules, and intellectual property provisions of any AI platform utilized during manuscript preparation.

Authors are strictly prohibited from uploading confidential information, personally identifiable information regarding research participants (such as children, parents, or teachers), unpublished sensitive data, or proprietary third-party materials into external AI systems unless appropriate legal protections and authorizations are secured. The responsibility for safeguarding human subjects' privacy and research data rests entirely with the authors.

7. Use of Generative AI by Reviewers

Manuscripts submitted to Asghar: Journal of Children Studies are strictly confidential documents.

Reviewers must not upload an unpublished manuscript, or substantial portions thereof, into publicly accessible Generative AI systems where data privacy, confidentiality, and intellectual property protection cannot be guaranteed. AI must never substitute for a reviewer's independent scholarly evaluation, critical reasoning, and professional judgment.

Reviewers remain personally accountable for:

  • Evaluating the academic quality and rigor of the manuscript;

  • Assessing methodology, theoretical arguments, empirical evidence, and conclusions;

  • Identifying ethical or integrity vulnerabilities;

  • Providing objective, constructive recommendations; and

  • Ensuring the accuracy of their review reports.

AI-assisted tools may only be employed in a minor, supportive capacity (such as refining the language of a review report or performing a background literature check), provided that manuscript confidentiality is completely safeguarded. If AI is used substantively in drafting a review report, the reviewer must disclose the tool and its purpose.

8. Use of Generative AI by Editors

Editors must treat all submitted manuscripts and editorial documents as confidential. Editors must never upload submitted papers to open AI systems if doing so compromises confidentiality, proprietary rights, intellectual property, or personal data.

Generative AI cannot replace editorial decision-making. All editorial assessments, evaluations, decisions, and communications regarding acceptance, revision, or rejection remain the exclusive responsibility of human editors. AI technologies may only assist with administrative or technical editorial tasks provided that transparency, data security, and human oversight are strictly maintained.

9. Research Integrity and Prohibited Practices

The use of Generative AI must fully comply with the research integrity standards upheld by Asghar: Journal of Children Studies. The following practices are strictly prohibited:

  • Using AI to fabricate or falsify developmental or educational research data;

  • Using AI to invent research participants, field observations, interviews, or empirical findings;

  • Incorporating unverified AI-generated references;

  • Presenting unverified AI interpretations as validated scientific facts;

  • Using AI to mask plagiarism or other academic misconduct;

  • Manipulating research images or data evidence to distort original findings; and

  • Using AI in ways that violate participant privacy, confidentiality, or copyright laws.

Any misuse of Generative AI that compromises the reliability, transparency, or originality of a manuscript will result in immediate rejection, withdrawal, formal correction, retraction, or other disciplinary actions pursuant to the journal's publication ethics framework.

10. Human Oversight

Asghar: Journal of Children Studies upholds the steadfast principle that human oversight must remain at the center of scholarly publishing. While Generative AI and AI-assisted technologies can facilitate research workflows, they can never replace the expertise, critical reasoning, ethical judgment, creative interpretation, and accountability inherent to authors, reviewers, and editors. All individuals involved in the publication process remain collectively and individually responsible for preserving the scholarly quality, integrity, and transparency of the journal.