Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy

Alfazuna: Jurnal Pembelajaran Bahasa Arab dan Kebahasaaraban

Alfazuna: Jurnal Pembelajaran Bahasa Arab dan Kebahasaaraban recognizes that artificial intelligence (AI), including generative AI tools and AI-assisted technologies, can support certain aspects of academic research, writing, language editing, translation, and data analysis. At the same time, the journal recognizes the risks associated with inappropriate AI use, including inaccurate information, fabricated references, biased interpretations, plagiarism, and the misrepresentation of scholarly contributions.

This policy establishes principles for the responsible, transparent, and ethical use of AI in the preparation, evaluation, and publication of manuscripts submitted to Alfazuna. Its primary purpose is to safeguard academic integrity, research transparency, and human accountability throughout the publication process.

1. General Principles

The use of AI tools must comply with the following principles:

  1. Human Responsibility: Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, integrity, and ethical compliance of their manuscripts, regardless of whether AI tools have been used.

  2. Transparency: Relevant use of generative AI must be disclosed in accordance with this policy.

  3. Accuracy and Verification: AI-generated information, translations, references, data interpretations, and other outputs must be carefully checked by the authors.

  4. Academic Integrity: AI must not be used to fabricate research findings, misrepresent evidence, plagiarize existing work, or conceal the actual contributions of researchers.

  5. Protection of Confidentiality: AI tools must not be used in ways that expose confidential research data, personal information, unpublished manuscripts, or other protected material without appropriate authorization.

2. Use of AI by Authors

Authors may use AI tools to support limited and appropriate activities in manuscript preparation, provided that the use does not compromise the originality, validity, or integrity of the research.

Permissible uses may include:

  • Improving grammar, spelling, punctuation, and readability.

  • Assisting with language editing and translation.

  • Supporting the organization of ideas and the refinement of manuscript structure.

  • Assisting with preliminary literature exploration, provided that all sources are independently verified.

  • Supporting coding, data processing, or statistical analysis when appropriate and when the methods, outputs, and limitations are verified by the authors.

  • Assisting with other legitimate research tasks, provided that authors retain intellectual responsibility for the work.

Authors must critically review all AI-generated or AI-assisted content before including it in a manuscript. The use of AI does not relieve authors of their responsibility to ensure that claims are accurate, references are genuine, research methods are appropriate, and conclusions are supported by evidence.

3. Disclosure of AI Use

Authors must disclose the use of generative AI tools when such tools contribute to the development of substantive manuscript content, including the generation or substantial rewriting of text, the development of analytical arguments, the interpretation of findings, or other significant intellectual or research-related activities.

Routine spelling, grammar, punctuation, and basic readability corrections that do not generate substantive content generally do not require a separate disclosure, unless otherwise required by the journal.

When disclosure is required, authors should provide a statement identifying:

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

  • The purpose for which the tool was used.

  • The sections or aspects of the research or manuscript in which the tool contributed.

  • The extent of human review and verification, where relevant.

The disclosure should be included in a dedicated AI Use Statement or another appropriate section of the manuscript, as directed by the journal.

Example of an AI Use Statement:

“During the preparation of this manuscript, the authors used [name of AI tool] to assist with [specific purpose]. All AI-assisted outputs were reviewed and verified by the authors, who take full responsibility for the accuracy, originality, and integrity of the published work.”

If no generative AI tools were used in preparing the manuscript, authors may include the following statement when requested:

“The authors declare that no generative AI tools were used in the preparation of this manuscript.”

4. Prohibited Uses of AI

The following practices are prohibited:

  • Using AI to fabricate or falsify research data, results, citations, quotations, or references.

  • Presenting AI-generated content as verified research findings without appropriate validation.

  • Using AI to generate misleading, manipulated, or deceptive research images, figures, or other evidence.

  • Submitting AI-generated manuscripts or substantial portions of AI-generated scholarly work without meaningful human intellectual contribution and the required disclosure.

  • Using AI to conceal plagiarism, evade plagiarism detection, or misrepresent the originality of a manuscript.

  • Citing sources that have not been verified or do not support the claims attributed to them.

  • Using AI-generated translations or interpretations of Arabic texts without appropriate linguistic, contextual, and scholarly verification.

  • Uploading confidential manuscripts, unpublished research, personal data, or sensitive materials to external AI systems without appropriate authorization and safeguards.

Any suspected violation will be assessed in accordance with the journal's publication ethics and research misconduct policies.

5. AI and Authorship

AI tools, including generative AI systems, cannot be listed as authors or co-authors of manuscripts submitted to Alfazuna.

Authorship requires intellectual contribution, approval of the final manuscript, accountability, and the ability to respond to questions concerning the integrity of the work. AI systems cannot independently fulfill these responsibilities.

All authors must satisfy the journal's authorship criteria and remain accountable for the content of the submitted manuscript, including any material produced with AI assistance.

6. AI Use in Arabic Language Education and Linguistic Research

Because Alfazuna focuses on Arabic language education and linguistics, authors must exercise particular care when using AI tools to analyze Arabic texts, translate materials, interpret linguistic structures, or develop educational content.

Authors are responsible for verifying, where applicable:

  • Arabic spelling, morphology, syntax, semantics, and contextual meaning.

  • The accuracy of translations between Arabic and other languages.

  • The interpretation of classical and contemporary Arabic texts.

  • The validity of linguistic examples, corpus data, and computational analyses.

  • The accuracy of AI-generated teaching materials, assessment instruments, and learning activities.

  • The cultural, historical, and contextual appropriateness of linguistic and educational interpretations.

AI-generated Arabic examples, grammatical explanations, translations, and linguistic classifications must not be treated as authoritative without independent scholarly verification.

Where AI tools are integral to the research methodology, authors should explain their role, relevant settings or procedures, and verification methods sufficiently to support transparency and reproducibility.

7. AI Use by Reviewers

Reviewers must protect the confidentiality of manuscripts and the integrity of the peer review process.

Reviewers must not upload unpublished manuscripts, reviewer reports, confidential editorial communications, or identifiable research data to public or external AI systems where such use could compromise confidentiality or violate applicable policies.

AI tools must not replace the reviewer's independent scholarly judgment. Reviewers remain responsible for the accuracy, fairness, relevance, and professionalism of their evaluations.

Any AI use permitted by the journal's review procedures must preserve manuscript confidentiality, comply with applicable data protection requirements, and be disclosed to the editor when material to the review process.

8. AI Use by Editors

Editors may use appropriate AI-assisted tools for limited administrative or editorial support, provided that confidentiality, data protection, fairness, and editorial independence are maintained.

AI tools must not be the sole basis for decisions concerning manuscript acceptance, rejection, research misconduct, or other consequential editorial matters.

Editors remain responsible for evaluating manuscripts, managing peer review, resolving ethical concerns, and making or overseeing editorial decisions in accordance with the journal's policies.

Unpublished manuscripts and confidential editorial materials must not be entered into AI systems without appropriate authorization and safeguards.

9. Detection of AI-Generated Content

Alfazuna may use appropriate screening methods or technological tools to investigate concerns about the originality, accuracy, or integrity of submitted manuscripts.

However, AI-detection results will not be treated as conclusive evidence of misconduct on their own. Any concerns will be assessed in context, considering the manuscript, available evidence, author explanations, and applicable publication ethics standards.

The journal reserves the right to request clarification about AI use when necessary. Where a potential violation is identified, the matter will be handled fairly and in accordance with the journal's established procedures.

10. Consequences of Policy Violations

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

Possible actions include:

  • Requesting clarification, additional disclosure, or revision.

  • Requiring the correction of inaccurate or misleading content.

  • Rejecting a manuscript when serious concerns cannot be resolved.

  • Publishing a correction or other editorial notice for a published article, where warranted.

  • Retracting a published article when the applicable grounds for retraction are established.

  • Referring serious concerns to the relevant institution or other appropriate body when necessary.

All cases will be assessed individually, with due consideration for the evidence, the authors' explanations, and the journal's publication ethics policies.

11. Policy Review and Updates

Alfazuna recognizes that AI technologies and scholarly publishing practices continue to evolve. The journal will periodically review and update this policy to address emerging technologies, research practices, and publication ethics standards.

Authors, reviewers, and editors are responsible for complying with the version of the policy applicable to their submissions and editorial activities.

Final Statement

Alfazuna: Jurnal Pembelajaran Bahasa Arab dan Kebahasaaraban supports the responsible use of AI as an assistive technology while maintaining the principle that scholarly research must remain transparent, verifiable, and accountable to human authors.

AI tools may support academic work, but they cannot replace the intellectual responsibility, critical judgment, linguistic expertise, and ethical accountability required for credible scholarly publication.