Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy

Competitive: Jurnal Akuntansi dan Keuangan

1. Purpose and Scope

Competitive: Jurnal Akuntansi dan Keuangan recognizes that artificial intelligence (AI), including generative AI and AI-assisted technologies, can support academic research and scholarly communication. These technologies may assist with language editing, literature organization, data analysis, coding, and other research-related activities.

This policy establishes principles for the responsible, transparent, and ethical use of AI in manuscript preparation, submission, peer review, editorial assessment, and publication. It applies to authors, reviewers, editors, and other individuals involved in the journal’s publication process.

The use of AI must not compromise research integrity, originality, confidentiality, data protection, or the reliability of published findings.

2. Policy for Authors

2.1 Permitted Uses of AI

Authors may use AI tools to support appropriate activities, including:

  • Improving grammar, spelling, readability, and academic language.

  • Translating or refining text, provided that the intended meaning is preserved.

  • Organizing notes, outlining manuscripts, and improving clarity of presentation.

  • Assisting with programming, coding, or data-processing tasks, subject to independent verification.

  • Supporting literature discovery and research organization, provided that all sources are checked against the original publications.

AI use must remain under the active supervision of the authors. Authors are responsible for evaluating the accuracy, relevance, and appropriateness of all AI-generated or AI-assisted content before submission.

2.2 Prohibited and Unacceptable Uses

Authors must not use AI tools to:

  • Fabricate or falsify data, research findings, references, citations, or other scholarly evidence.

  • Generate misleading analyses, manipulate research results, or conceal material methodological limitations.

  • Present AI-generated text, ideas, images, tables, or other materials as verified research when they have not been adequately checked.

  • Plagiarize or reproduce copyrighted or third-party material without appropriate permission, attribution, or other lawful basis.

  • Create fake reviewer reports, research records, participant responses, or supporting documents.

  • Misrepresent the role of AI in the research or manuscript preparation process.

AI-generated references and citations must be verified against authentic, accessible sources. Authors remain responsible for ensuring that every cited source exists and supports the claim attributed to it.

2.3 Disclosure of AI Use

Authors must disclose the use of generative AI or AI-assisted technologies when these tools have made a substantive contribution to the development of the manuscript, such as generating or substantially rewriting text, assisting with analysis, interpreting results, or producing research-related content.

Routine spelling, grammar, punctuation, and basic language correction do not ordinarily require disclosure, unless the journal requests otherwise.

When disclosure is required, authors should provide the following information:

  • The name of the AI tool and, where known, its version.

  • The purpose and scope of its use.

  • The sections or research activities in which it was used.

  • The steps taken by the authors to verify the output.

A disclosure statement may be included in a separate section entitled “Declaration of Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies in the Writing Process.”

Example:

During the preparation of this manuscript, the authors used [name of AI tool] for [specific purpose]. The authors subsequently reviewed, verified, and revised the generated content and take full responsibility for the accuracy, originality, and integrity of the published article.

If no generative AI or AI-assisted technology requiring disclosure was used, authors may state:

The authors declare that no generative AI or AI-assisted technologies were used in the preparation of this manuscript.

2.4 Authorship and Accountability

AI tools cannot be listed as authors or co-authors because they cannot assume responsibility for the accuracy, originality, integrity, and ethical compliance of scholarly work.

All authors must satisfy the journal’s authorship requirements and remain fully accountable for the manuscript, including content produced with AI assistance. AI use does not transfer authors’ responsibilities to the tool provider.

3. Policy for Reviewers

Reviewers must evaluate manuscripts based on scholarly merit, originality, methodological rigor, relevance, and contribution to the field.

Reviewers must observe the following requirements:

  1. Confidentiality: Reviewers must not upload unpublished manuscripts, confidential research data, reviewer reports, or identifiable author information to public or third-party AI systems unless the journal explicitly authorizes the use and appropriate confidentiality and data-protection safeguards are in place.

  2. Independent judgment: Reviewers must make their own assessments and must not delegate the substantive evaluation of a manuscript to AI tools.

  3. Accuracy: Reviewers remain responsible for all comments, criticisms, and recommendations submitted to the journal, including any content assisted by AI.

  4. Disclosure: Reviewers must disclose substantive AI assistance to the editor when it has materially contributed to preparing the review.

  5. Research integrity: Reviewers must not use AI to fabricate criticisms, invent references, or make unsupported allegations about authors or their work.

AI may be used for limited language assistance where confidentiality is maintained and the reviewer retains full responsibility for the review.

4. Policy for Editors

Editors are responsible for maintaining the integrity, fairness, confidentiality, and independence of the editorial process.

Editors must:

  • Make editorial decisions based on scholarly quality, the journal's scope, reviewer assessments, and established editorial criteria.

  • Protect unpublished manuscripts and confidential editorial information from unauthorized disclosure to AI systems.

  • Verify material concerns about AI-generated content before taking editorial action.

  • Avoid relying solely on AI-detection tools to determine whether a manuscript has been written using AI.

  • Ensure that authors are treated fairly and have an opportunity to respond to concerns regarding AI use.

  • Disclose any substantive AI assistance in editorial work when appropriate and retain responsibility for all editorial decisions.

AI tools must not independently make final decisions concerning manuscript acceptance, rejection, allegations of misconduct, or sanctions.

5. AI Detection and Verification

Competitive: Jurnal Akuntansi dan Keuangan may use appropriate screening and verification procedures to assess compliance with this policy, including examination of references, source attribution, research data, analytical procedures, and other relevant evidence.

AI-detection tools may be used as supplementary screening aids. However, AI-detection scores alone do not constitute conclusive evidence of misconduct because such tools may produce inaccurate results.

Where concerns arise, the editorial team may request clarification, supporting materials, original data, analytical outputs, or an explanation of the authors’ research and writing process. Any action will be based on the available evidence and the journal's applicable editorial and publication ethics procedures.

6. Research Data, Analysis, and Reporting

For research involving accounting, finance, taxation, auditing, or related disciplines, authors must exercise particular care when AI is used in data processing, statistical analysis, financial interpretation, or the preparation of tables and figures.

Authors must ensure that:

  • Data are authentic and have been collected or obtained through legitimate means.

  • Statistical procedures, model specifications, and analytical outputs are appropriate and reproducible.

  • AI-assisted calculations and interpretations are independently checked.

  • Tables, figures, and financial information accurately represent the underlying data.

  • Confidential, personal, proprietary, or otherwise restricted data are not disclosed to unauthorized AI systems.

  • The use of AI does not replace required methodological explanations or conceal limitations in the research design.

Where AI has materially influenced the research method or analytical process, the authors should explain its role sufficiently to enable appropriate evaluation of the research.

7. Copyright, Originality, and Ethical Compliance

Authors are responsible for ensuring that their manuscripts comply with applicable copyright law, licensing requirements, research ethics standards, and publication ethics principles.

AI assistance does not exempt authors from the obligation to acknowledge the work of other researchers, obtain necessary permissions, protect research participants, or comply with applicable institutional and legal requirements.

Authors must also ensure that AI-generated materials do not infringe third-party rights or introduce unattributed material into the manuscript. The journal reserves the right to investigate credible concerns about plagiarism, fabricated evidence, copyright infringement, or other forms of publication misconduct in accordance with its editorial policies.

8. Editorial Actions for Non-Compliance

Failure to comply with this policy may result in appropriate editorial action, depending on the nature, seriousness, and evidence of the violation.

Possible actions include:

  • Requesting clarification or additional disclosure from the authors.

  • Requiring correction or revision of the manuscript.

  • Rejecting a manuscript where serious violations are established.

  • Correcting, issuing an expression of concern about, or retracting a published article where justified under the journal's publication ethics procedures.

  • Referring a substantiated concern to the relevant institution or organization, where appropriate and consistent with applicable procedures.

Any action will be proportionate to the circumstances and supported by an appropriate assessment of the available evidence. The journal will not treat AI use alone as evidence of misconduct when the use is consistent with this policy.

9. Policy Review and Updates

This policy may be reviewed and updated periodically to reflect developments in AI technology, scholarly publishing standards, applicable legal requirements, and publication ethics guidance.

Authors, reviewers, and editors are expected to follow the version of the policy applicable to their manuscript or editorial activity.

The Editor-in-Chief and editorial team of Competitive: Jurnal Akuntansi dan Keuangan are responsible for implementing and communicating this policy.