AI & Research Integrity Policy

AI & Research Integrity Policy

Health Nexus is committed to maintaining the highest standards of research integrity, transparency, and ethical scholarship. The journal recognizes the growing role of artificial intelligence (AI) tools in research and publishing, and establishes the following policy to ensure responsible and accountable use.

1. Principles of Research Integrity

All research published in Health Nexus must adhere to:

• Honesty and accuracy in data collection and reporting
• Transparency in methodology and analysis
• Accountability of all listed authors
• Compliance with ethical and regulatory standards

2. Acceptable Use of AI Tools

Authors may use AI tools (e.g., language models, writing assistants) for:

• Language editing and grammar improvement
• Improving clarity and readability
• Assisting with literature organization or coding support

Conditions:

• AI use must be transparent and disclosed
• Authors remain fully responsible for all content

3. Prohibited Use of AI

The following uses are not permitted:

• Listing AI tools as authors
• Using AI to generate fabricated data, images, or results
• Submitting AI-generated content without human verification
• Using AI in ways that violate ethical or scientific standards

4. Disclosure Requirements

Authors must include a statement describing AI use, if applicable.

Example:

Failure to disclose AI use may be considered a breach of publication ethics.

5. Authorship Responsibility

• Only humans can be listed as authors
• All authors are accountable for:
  • Accuracy of the work
  • Integrity of data and analysis
  • Compliance with ethical standards

AI tools cannot assume responsibility or authorship.

6. AI in Peer Review

Reviewers and editors must:

• Not upload manuscripts to AI tools that may compromise confidentiality
• Not use AI in ways that expose unpublished data
• Maintain strict confidentiality of all submissions

Limited use of AI for language assistance in review reports may be acceptable if confidentiality is preserved.

7. Data and Image Integrity

The journal strictly prohibits:

• Fabrication or falsification of data
• Inappropriate image manipulation
• AI-generated images or data presented as real without disclosure

The journal may use tools to detect:

• Image manipulation
• Plagiarism or AI-generated content

8. Plagiarism and AI-Generated Content

All submissions are subject to similarity checks.

• AI-generated text must not constitute plagiarism or unoriginal work
• Proper citation is required for all sources
• Excessive reliance on AI-generated content may lead to rejection

9. Ethical Oversight and Misconduct

Suspected violations (including misuse of AI) will be handled in accordance with:

• COPE guidelines and flowcharts

Actions may include:

• Manuscript rejection
• Retraction or correction
• Notification of institutions

10. Transparency and Accountability

Authors must ensure:

• Full disclosure of methods, tools, and data sources
• Reproducibility of results
• Availability of underlying data where appropriate

11. Policy Evolution

Given the rapidly evolving nature of AI technologies:

• Health Nexus will periodically update this policy
• Authors and reviewers are expected to comply with the latest version