Policy on the Use of AI

1. General Statement

AL-SULTHANIYAH recognizes that Artificial Intelligence (AI) and AI-assisted technologies can support authors, editors, and other stakeholders in the scholarly publishing process. However, the use of AI must not compromise academic integrity, authorship accountability, confidentiality, originality, transparency, or the quality of scholarly communication in legal, political, governance, and interdisciplinary studies.

The journal therefore permits limited and responsible use of AI-assisted technologies under the conditions stipulated in this policy. The use of AI does not transfer responsibility for the content of a manuscript or editorial decisions to an AI system. Authors, editors, and peer reviewers remain fully responsible for their respective contributions, evaluations, and decisions.

2. Use of AI by Authors

Authors may use AI-assisted technologies as supporting tools in the preparation of manuscripts, including for purposes such as language improvement, grammar correction, translation, formatting assistance, or other non-substantive editorial refinements.

However, authors must not use AI as a substitute for their intellectual and scholarly responsibility. Authors remain fully responsible for:

  1. the accuracy, originality, and legal/empirical integrity of the manuscript;

  2. the validity of legal arguments, statutory interpretations, empirical data, and conclusions;

  3. the accuracy and authenticity of citations, case law precedents, and references;

  4. the originality of theoretical frameworks and scholarly insights;

  5. compliance with research ethics and publication ethics; and

  6. verifying all outputs generated or assisted by AI systems.

AI tools must not be listed as authors or co-authors because they cannot assume legal, moral, or academic responsibility for the content, integrity, and accountability of a scholarly publication.

3. Disclosure of AI Use by Authors

Authors who use AI-assisted technologies in preparing their manuscripts must formally disclose such use to AL-SULTHANIYAH.

The disclosure should explicitly identify:

  • the specific AI tool or system used (including version/model);

  • the exact purpose of its use; and

  • the section or aspect of the manuscript in which the AI technology was applied.

Double-Blind Review Requirement: To uphold AL-SULTHANIYAH’s double-blind peer review process, any AI disclosure section within the manuscript must remain anonymized during initial submission (e.g., placed on a separate title page or declared within the submission metadata) and will be formally incorporated into the published version upon acceptance.

Example of Acceptable Disclosure:

AI Disclosure Statement: The authors utilized [Name of AI Tool, e.g., ChatGPT-4] solely for language refinement, phrasing adjustments, and grammatical editing. All AI-assisted outputs were critically reviewed, verified, and edited by the authors, who retain sole accountability for the scholarly content and legal analyses in this manuscript.

The use of AI to generate substantive academic arguments, synthesize primary legal texts/statutes without human verification, fabricate or manipulate empirical data, create hallucinatory or unverifiable references, or conceal the true origin of intellectual contributions is strictly prohibited.

4. Use of AI by Editors

Editors may use AI-assisted technologies only for limited administrative or technical purposes that support journal management and editorial workflow, provided that such use does not compromise confidentiality, fairness, editorial independence, or academic integrity.

Editors must never delegate editorial judgment to AI systems. Decisions concerning:

  • initial screening, acceptance, or rejection of manuscripts;

  • selection of qualified peer reviewers;

  • assessment of scholarly rigor and legal analysis;

  • interpretation of reviewer reports;

  • resolution of ethical issues; and

  • final publication decisions

must remain entirely under the human authority of the responsible editor.

Editors must not upload confidential manuscripts, unpublished empirical data, draft statutory analyses, personal information, or reviewer reports into public or unsecured AI systems that do not guarantee strict data protection and confidentiality. AI-generated recommendations, when used for legitimate editorial support, must be critically evaluated and verified by the editor before taking action.

5. Use of AI by Reviewers

Peer reviewers are strictly prohibited from using AI-assisted technologies to evaluate, summarize, analyze, or generate review comments on manuscripts submitted to AL-SULTHANIYAH. Specifically, reviewers must not upload, input, or process any manuscript, abstract, or portion thereof into an AI tool or Large Language Model (LLM).

This prohibition is strictly enforced to protect:

  1. manuscript confidentiality and non-public legal/policy research;

  2. authors' intellectual property and legal rights;

  3. unpublished empirical findings and data;

  4. reviewer confidentiality and independence;

  5. editorial integrity; and

  6. the total anonymity and fairness of the double-blind peer review process.

Reviewers must prepare their evaluations independently and are personally accountable for the substance, fairness, and confidentiality of their review reports.

6. AI and Research Integrity

AI-assisted technologies must not be employed to:

  • fabricate or falsify empirical research data, field interviews, or case studies;

  • manipulate findings, legal arguments, or policy implications;

  • generate false, hallucinatory, or unverifiable references, citations, or legal precedents;

  • misrepresent legal sources, historical records, or textual quotations;

  • plagiarize or reproduce another person’s intellectual work without proper attribution;

  • conceal substantive AI-generated contributions;

  • impersonate authors, reviewers, or editors; or

  • otherwise circumvent established principles of research and publication ethics.

Any suspected misuse of AI will be investigated in accordance with AL-SULTHANIYAH’s Policy on Handling Allegations of Misconduct.

7. Editorial Responsibility

The AL-SULTHANIYAH Editorial Board reserves the right to request full clarification and additional evidence from authors regarding their use of AI-assisted technologies whenever necessary.

Failure to disclose AI use, providing misleading information regarding AI assistance, or using AI in a manner that breaches academic integrity constitutes a violation of publication ethics. Such breaches may result in immediate editorial action, including mandatory revision, manuscript rejection, formal retraction, or notification to the authors' home institutions in accordance with COPE guidelines.

8. Final Responsibility

AI-assisted technologies are auxiliary tools and cannot bear authorship, editorial, or peer-review responsibility. Human authors, editors, and reviewers remain completely accountable for their respective scholarly, evaluation, and editorial activities.

This policy is subject to periodic review and updates by the AL-SULTHANIYAH Editorial Board to adapt to technological advancements, evolving COPE standards, and international best practices in scholarly publishing.