The International Journal of Social World (IJSW) allows authors to use generative AI and AI-assisted tools where their use is consistent with research integrity, confidentiality, copyright, data protection, and other applicable requirements.

AI tools may be used to support manuscript preparation and research activities in sociology, social sciences, social research, and related fields, but they must not replace the author's scholarly judgment, intellectual contribution, or responsibility for the work.

AI Use and Disclosure

Routine use of AI for basic grammar, spelling, punctuation, formatting, or language improvement does not ordinarily require separate disclosure, provided that the scholarly content and meaning remain the author's own.

Authors must disclose substantive use of AI when it materially contributes to the preparation or development of the manuscript or research. This includes, where applicable, substantial text generation or rewriting, research design, survey development, interview-question preparation, data analysis or interpretation, coding, qualitative or quantitative research assistance, and generation or substantial modification of figures, images, or other visual content.

Where disclosure is required, authors should identify the AI tool used and briefly describe its purpose and contribution. The disclosure may be included in the Methods, Acknowledgments, or another appropriate section of the manuscript.

When AI tools assist with the analysis of interview transcripts, survey responses, focus-group discussions, or other social research materials, authors should explain the role of AI where relevant to the research methodology and interpretation of the findings.

Human Responsibility and Authorship

Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, integrity, citations, data, figures, interpretations, and final content of their manuscript. AI-generated references, factual claims, data, quotations, and other information must be appropriately reviewed and verified by the authors.

Manuscripts must contain meaningful human intellectual contribution and oversight. Authors must not present AI-generated or AI-assisted material as independently produced scholarly work without appropriate human review and responsibility.

For social science research, authors must critically evaluate AI-assisted interpretations of human behaviour, social relationships, cultural practices, community experiences, survey findings, and interview responses. AI-generated interpretations must not be treated as reliable evidence without appropriate verification and methodological justification.

Authors are also responsible for ensuring that any AI-generated or AI-assisted figures or images comply with applicable copyright and intellectual property requirements, as the copyright status of AI-generated content may vary by jurisdiction.

Confidentiality and Responsible Use

Authors should not submit confidential, unpublished, personal, or otherwise restricted information to AI systems where doing so could compromise confidentiality, privacy, copyright, intellectual property, or research ethics.

Particular care must be taken when working with interview transcripts, survey responses, audio recordings, field notes, photographs, case histories, and other materials that contain identifiable or sensitive information about research participants or communities.

Where AI tools are used to process human-participant research materials, authors must follow applicable consent conditions, data protection requirements, institutional policies, and ethical safeguards. Removing names alone may not be sufficient to protect participants if other details could reveal their identities.

AI tools must not be used to generate or fabricate research data, survey responses, interview transcripts, results, findings, or conclusions and present them as genuine research outputs.

This requirement also applies to editors and reviewers, who must not submit manuscript content to AI tools in a manner that would breach the confidentiality obligations described in the journal's Peer Review Process policy.

AI and Editorial Checks

AI-assisted or AI-generated content may be considered as part of IJSW's editorial and research-integrity checks, where applicable.

Authors may optionally request a separate Plagiarism and/or AI Content Detection Report for their manuscript, subject to the applicable fees and conditions specified in the journal's Article Processing Charges policy.

Related Policies

This policy should be read together with the relevant IJSW policies, including:

• Publication Ethics
• Peer Review Process
• Plagiarism Policy
• Article Processing Charges
• Authorship Policy
• Copyright and Licensing