For studies involving humans, it is mandatory for our journal to ensure that the research has obtained approval from the Institutional Review Board or a comparable ethical review body. Authors must clearly indicate IRB approval/exemption, as well as provide information on the gender and age of all subjects in their papers.
Transparency and Disclosure:
- Disclose chatbot use: Clearly state in the methods section if you used a chatbot and for what purpose (e.g., data generation, hypothesis formulation).
- Identify the specific chatbot: Specify which chatbot was used (e.g., ChatGPT) and its limitations.
- Avoid authorship confusion: Don’t grant authorship to chatbots. Only human authors who contributed intellectual effort deserve authorship.
- Fairness and Inclusion:
- Be mindful of potential biases in research design, data analysis, and interpretation, considering factors like race, gender, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status.
- Use inclusive language and avoid perpetuating stereotypes or harmful generalizations.
- Strive to represent diverse populations and perspectives in your research and writing.
- Data Sharing and Open Science:
- Consider sharing anonymized data and research materials to facilitate replication and transparency, following relevant data sharing policies and ethical considerations.
- Engage in open science practices such as pre-registration of hypotheses and methods, and transparent reporting of null results and limitations.
- Author Contributions and Authorship Criteria:
- Clearly define the roles and contributions of each author, following established authorship guidelines (e.g., COPE, ICMJE).
- Avoid ghost authorship and ensure all listed authors have made significant intellectual contributions to the work.
- Consider the ethical implications of including AI-generated text as an author or contributor.