Advanced Drug Sciences (ADS) permits the responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI)–assisted tools in scholarly publishing, provided that such use is transparent, limited in scope, and does not compromise the integrity, confidentiality, or originality of the work.

This policy should be read in conjunction with the Publication Ethics and Conflict of Interest Policy.

General Principles

• AI tools must not replace human judgment, authorship, or editorial responsibility.
• All use of AI must be transparent and appropriately disclosed where required.
• Confidential or proprietary materials must not be uploaded to AI systems.
• All parties remain fully accountable for the accuracy, integrity, and confidentiality of the content.

For Authors

Authors may use AI-assisted tools for limited purposes, such as language editing, provided that such use is properly disclosed and critically verified.

• Disclosure: Authors must disclose the use of AI tools in a dedicated statement within the manuscript, including the name of the tool and its purpose.
• Authorship: AI tools must not be listed as authors or co-authors.
• Responsibility: Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, and integrity of all content.
• Permitted Use: Language editing, grammar correction, readability improvement, and data analysis (where scientifically appropriate).
• Prohibited Use: AI tools must not be used to generate or alter scientific results, conclusions, or interpretations in a misleading manner, or to produce substantive scholarly content without critical human oversight.
• AI-Generated Figures, Tables, and Artwork:
  • The use of AI tools to generate or modify figures, tables, graphical abstracts, or any visual materials representing scientific data or results is not permitted.
  • Visual materials must be derived directly from original data and must accurately reflect the underlying methods and results.
  • AI-assisted fabrication, enhancement, or manipulation of images, figures, or datasets that alters interpretation is strictly prohibited.
  • Standard data visualization tools (e.g., statistical or graphing software) are permitted when based on authentic data.
• Verification: Authors must review and validate all AI-assisted outputs to ensure accuracy, completeness, and absence of bias.

Disclosure Examples

Authors should provide clear and specific disclosure statements. Examples include:

• Language editing:
  “The authors used ChatGPT (OpenAI) to assist with grammar and language clarity. The authors reviewed and edited all outputs and take full responsibility for the content.”
• General prompt-based assistance:
  “The authors used ChatGPT (OpenAI) for language refinement using general prompts related to clarity and readability. No scientific content or conclusions were generated by AI.”

If no AI tools were used, authors should state:

“No AI-assisted tools were used in the preparation of this manuscript.”

For Reviewers

• Reviewers must not upload manuscripts or any confidential materials into AI tools.
• AI tools must not be used to generate or assist peer review reports.
• All evaluations must be conducted independently and confidentially.

For Editors

• Editors must not upload submitted manuscripts, reviewer reports, or correspondence into AI systems.
• AI tools must not be used in editorial decision-making or manuscript evaluation.
• Editors are responsible for ensuring decisions are based solely on scholarly merit and ethical standards.

Editorial Clarification and Verification

Editors may request clarification regarding the use of AI tools where disclosure is unclear or where concerns arise about the integrity of the content. Such requests may include a general description of how AI tools were used. Authors are not required to disclose proprietary prompts, confidential data, or sensitive information.

Compliance and Enforcement

Failure to comply with this policy, including non-disclosure or misuse of AI tools, may be considered a breach of publication ethics and may result in rejection, correction, or retraction.