The Editorial Board of the scholarly legal journal Bulletin of the National Academy of Legal Sciences of Ukraine (hereinafter – the Journal) recognizes the potential benefits of using artificial intelligence (hereinafter – AI) to enhance the efficiency and quality of scholarly publications; however, it emphasizes the necessity of its ethical, responsible, and transparent use in compliance with the principles of academic integrity and standards of research ethics.

The use of AI within the Journal is governed by the recommendations of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) “Authorship and Artificial Intelligence Tools”, the provisions of “The Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence and AI-Assisted Technologies in Writing” (ELSEVIER), and the “Recommendations on the Use of Artificial Intelligence in Scholarly Communication” issued by the European Association of Science Editors (EASE).

This policy applies to all participants in the Journal’s editorial process: authors submitting materials to the Journal; reviewers conducting expert evaluation of submitted manuscripts; members of the editorial board; and editorial staff.

Authors may use AI tools to improve the quality of their manuscripts, subject to mandatory compliance with the following conditions:

• to formally inform the editorial office of the use of AI tools in the process of manuscript preparation. Informing the editorial office about the use of AI in the preparation of a scholarly article promotes transparency, clarity, and accountability in the presentation of information in scholarly publications and contributes to building trust between authors and the editorial office;
• to specify the particular ways in which AI has been used (e.g., for text editing, grammar checking, data analysis, image generation, etc.) directly in the text of the article (in the sections “Materials and Methods,” “Acknowledgements,” or in a separate section “Use of AI Tools”);
• not to use generative AI technologies for the creation of the main text of the work; for the generation of original research results and scientific conclusions; or for statistical analysis and data modeling;
• to carefully verify any text generated by AI tools for accuracy, contextual appropriateness, and the absence of bias or errors;
• to provide references to generated content.

Authors bear full personal responsibility for the accuracy and objectivity of the information provided, compliance with copyright legislation, the absence of plagiarism, adherence to the principles of academic integrity, and the overall content of the manuscript. AI tools and technologies may not be listed as an author or co-author of a scholarly article.

Reviewers may use AI tools to enhance the efficiency of the peer review process, subject to the following conditions:

• to inform the editorial board of the use of AI tools during the preparation of a review;
• not to use AI for evaluating the content of a manuscript or for generating the text of reviews;
• not to upload confidential manuscript materials (including full texts, data, figures, etc.) to AI tools that do not guarantee confidentiality and data security.

The use of AI tools must not affect the objectivity or impartiality of the peer review process. The reviewer bears full responsibility for the content of their review.

The editorial board and editorial staff of the Journal may use AI tools to optimize editorial processes, subject to mandatory compliance with the following conditions:

• not to use AI tools for assessing the scholarly value of submitted manuscripts or for making any editorial decisions regarding them;
• to adhere to the principles of confidentiality, data security, and the avoidance of bias that may be inherent in certain AI tools.

If the use of AI is identified without proper disclosure by the author(s), the editorial board of the Journal and/or the reviewer reserves the right to reject and return the manuscript at any stage of the review process or to initiate the procedure for retraction of an already published article.

The Journal’s policy on the use of AI tools may be revised and improved in light of advancements in AI technologies, updates to ethical standards, and developments in scholarly publishing practices.