AI Policy
SCRIPTed Policy on the Use of Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies
SCRIPTed recognises that generative artificial intelligence (AI) and AI-assisted technologies are increasingly used in legal research and academic writing. While such tools may assist authors in certain aspects of manuscript preparation, they must not replace the author's own intellectual contribution, scholarly judgment, critical analysis, or responsibility for the work.
Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, integrity, and legality of all content submitted to the journal.
Permitted uses
Generative AI and AI-assisted technologies may be used for these limited purposes:
- improving grammar, spelling, readability, and language clarity
- supporting background research (but not generating ideas)
- supporting coding or data analysis (where appropriate)
- assisting in the creation of visual materials such as diagrams, illustrations, and graphical summaries. Any such use should be disclosed where the visual forms part of the scholarly content of the submission, and authors remain responsible for ensuring that they possess any necessary rights to reproduce and publish the resulting material.
Any use of AI must remain subject to meaningful human oversight and critical review.
Prohibited uses
Generative AI and AI-assisted technologies must not:
- be used to generate ideas
- be used to fabricate, manipulate, or alter research data, results, evidence, images, or other research materials
- be used in a manner that replaces the author's own critical analysis, legal reasoning, interpretation, or scholarly contribution
- be used in ways that violate copyright law, confidentiality obligations, data protection requirements, contractual restrictions, or research ethics obligations
- be listed as authors or co-authors
The inclusion of hallucinated or fictitious references will be regarded as a breach of academic standards. Authors are expected to verify all citations and sources independently prior to submission. The identification of such references by reviewers or the editorial team may result in rejection of the manuscript, requests for substantial revision, or further investigation under the journal's publication ethics procedures.
Disclosure requirements
Any use of generative AI or AI-assisted technologies beyond routine spelling, grammar, or formatting assistance must be disclosed. This requirement applies equally to the preparation of written content and to the creation, modification, or enhancement of figures, diagrams, illustrations, images, and other visual materials included in the submission.
Authors should include a section entitled "Declaration of AI use" immediately before the bibliography or references.
The declaration should identify:
- the AI tool used
- the nature and purpose of the use and
- the extent to which the tool contributed to the preparation of the manuscript.
Suggested declaration of AI use: During the preparation of this manuscript, the author(s) used [tool name] for [description of use]. All outputs were reviewed, verified, and edited by the author(s), who take full responsibility for the content of the manuscript.
Failure to disclose relevant use of generative AI may be treated as a breach of the journal's publication ethics requirements.
Authorship and accountability
Generative AI tools cannot satisfy the requirements of authorship and must not be identified as authors or co-authors. Authorship entails intellectual contribution, accountability, responsibility for the integrity of the work, and the ability to respond to questions regarding the research. These responsibilities can only be assumed by human authors.
Copyright, confidentiality and data protection
Authors must ensure that their use of AI tools complies with all applicable legal and ethical obligations. In particular, authors should not upload confidential, sensitive, personal, proprietary, unpublished, or third-party materials into AI systems unless they are satisfied that they have the necessary permissions and legal basis to do so. Authors remain responsible for obtaining any permissions required for copyrighted materials
AI use by reviewers
To protect the confidentiality of submissions, the integrity of the peer-review process, and the intellectual property rights of authors, reviewers should exercise caution when using generative AI tools in connection with manuscripts under review. Unpublished manuscripts, substantial portions of manuscripts, or confidential information relating to submissions should not be uploaded into generative AI systems.
Reviewers must exercise their own independent scholarly judgment when assessing submissions. Generative AI tools should not be relied upon to evaluate the quality, originality or significance a manuscript for publication, nor to generate peer-review recommendations on behalf of the reviewer. Generative AI tools may be used to assist with the drafting, editing or presentation of reviewer reports, provided that the comments and recommendations remain those of the reviewer. Responsibility for the content of the review report remains entirely with the reviewer.
AI used by Assistant Editors
Assistant Editors must not use generative AI tools in the course of their editorial duties for SCRIPTed. Manuscripts, reviewer reports, author correspondence, editorial discussions, and any other confidential materials relating to submissions must not be uploaded, shared, summarised, analysed, or processed using generative AI systems. The role of an AE requires the handling of unpublished scholarly work and confidential information. The use of generative AI tools may create risks relating to confidentiality, intellectual property, data protection, and the integrity of the editorial process. AEs should therefore undertake all editorial tasks and workflow management without the assistance of generative AI tools.
Any uncertainty regarding the use of digital tools in the editorial process should be discussed with the Editor-in-Chief and Managing Editor before proceeding.
Editorial oversight
SCRIPTed reserves the right to request further information regarding the use of AI tools during manuscript preparation and may reject, withdraw, or retract submissions where AI has been used in a manner inconsistent with this policy or with accepted standards of academic integrity.
This policy will be reviewed periodically in light of technological developments and evolving scholarly best practices.
