Generative AI Policy

 The journal “Land Management, Cadastre and Land Monitoring” is committed to the principles of academic integrity, publication ethics, and transparency. This policy defines the rules for the use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) in manuscript preparation, peer review, and editorial processing.
For the purposes of this policy, generative AI refers to digital systems capable of generating or transforming text, images, code, tables, performing automated analytics, and producing outputs that would normally require human involvement (e.g., ChatGPT, Copilot, Claude, Gemini, etc.).

 1. Principles

1.    Human responsibility is paramount. All scientific claims, data, conclusions, and interpretations must be the result of the responsible work of the author(s).

2.    Transparency of use. Any use of AI that may have influenced manuscript preparation must be disclosed.

3.    Verifiability and reproducibility. Author(s) are responsible for verifying facts, sources, numerical results, and ensuring the absence of fabricated references/citations.

4.    Confidentiality. Manuscripts, reviews, and editorial materials may not be transferred to external services without editorial permission and without assurances of data protection.

 2. Use of AI by Authors

2.1. Permitted Use

Author(s) may use generative AI as an auxiliary tool, including for:

  • language editing and stylistic refinement;
  • improving readability and structuring the text;
  • preparing technical descriptions (subject to verification and author control).

2.2. Prohibited and Unacceptable Use

The use of AI is not permitted for:

  • generating or “substituting” scientific results, conclusions, or hypotheses without full verification and meaningful author control;
  • generating fabricated sources, citations, DOIs, legal acts, or other references;
  • fabrication/falsification of data, images, maps, graphs, or manipulative processing of such materials;
  • undisclosed creation of a substantial part of the manuscript.

2.3. Disclosure of AI Use (Mandatory)

Any use of AI must be openly stated in the manuscript (recommended placement: Acknowledgements or Materials and Methods), specifying the tool and the role AI played.

Recommended wording:
The author(s) used [tool name] for language editing and/or stylistic refinement of the manuscript. All formulations, factual statements, data, and conclusions were verified and approved by the author(s).
(Optionally, the author(s) may add the version/provider and the date of use.)

2.4. Authorship

Generative AI may not be listed as a co-author. Responsibility for the content, data reliability, and compliance with ethical standards rests fully with the author(s), regardless of AI use.

 3. Use of AI by Reviewers

3.1. General Rule

Peer review is a confidential process. Reviewers are prohibited from uploading manuscripts or any parts of them into AI tools without written permission from the editorial office.

3.2. Permitted Use (Under Conditions)

Use of AI in preparing a review is allowed only with editorial permission and provided that:

  • no confidential manuscript text is disclosed to external services;
  • the reviewer informs the editorial office that AI was used (in comments or a cover note).

The reviewer bears full responsibility for the content of the review, its accuracy, and impartiality.

 4. Use of AI by the Editorial Office

The editorial office may use AI only for auxiliary technical purposes, including:

  • checking text similarity and identifying potential integrity concerns;
  • language checks and linguistic analysis;
  • analysis of bibliographic data and metadata.

Automated systems do not make decisions on acceptance or rejection. Editorial decisions remain the exclusive responsibility of editors and reviewers.

 5. Policy Violations and Consequences

Undisclosed or improper use of generative AI may be treated as a breach of publication ethics. Depending on the nature of the violation, the journal may:

  • request explanations and source materials (data, code, original files);
  • reject the manuscript during review;
  • initiate post-publication actions (correction, expression of concern, retraction) if violations are identified after publication.

 6. Policy Updates

This policy is subject to periodic review in line with developments in international publication ethics standards (including COPE practices and major publishers’ policies) and applicable regulatory requirements in Ukraine.