Use of AI and AI-assisted Technologies

Research Journal Al-Qamar recognizes that Artificial Intelligence and AI-assisted technologies are increasingly being used in academic writing, language editing, translation support, reference organization, data analysis, and manuscript preparation. The journal allows limited and responsible use of AI-assisted tools, but such use must never replace original scholarship, human intellectual judgment, author accountability, ethical responsibility, or accurate academic referencing.

AI tools may support the writing process, but they cannot be considered authors, researchers, reviewers, or responsible contributors. Authors remain fully responsible for the originality, accuracy, integrity, reliability, and ethical compliance of every part of the manuscript submitted to the journal.

Purpose of This Policy

The purpose of this policy is to clarify how authors, reviewers, editors, and editorial staff may or may not use AI and AI-assisted technologies in relation to manuscripts submitted to Research Journal Al-Qamar.

This policy aims to ensure:

  1. Academic honesty
  2. Original scholarship
  3. Human responsibility
  4. Transparent disclosure
  5. Accurate references
  6. Ethical writing practice
  7. Protection of confidential manuscripts
  8. Responsible use of technology
  9. Prevention of fabricated content
  10. Preservation of scholarly integrity

The journal supports technological assistance where it improves clarity, accessibility, and presentation, but it does not accept AI-generated scholarship that lacks human authorship, verification, originality, and accountability.

Meaning of AI and AI-assisted Technologies

For the purpose of this policy, AI and AI-assisted technologies may include tools or software used for:

  1. Grammar correction
  2. Language improvement
  3. Translation assistance
  4. Paraphrasing support
  5. Formatting help
  6. Reference organization
  7. Summarization
  8. Text generation
  9. Data analysis
  10. Image generation
  11. Citation suggestions
  12. Plagiarism checking
  13. Statistical support
  14. Research assistance
  15. Automated editing

Examples may include AI chatbots, language models, grammar tools, translation tools, automated writing assistants, citation tools, summarization tools, and other digital systems that generate, modify, analyze, or improve text or data.

General Policy

Research Journal Al-Qamar allows the responsible use of AI tools only as supportive instruments. AI may assist with limited technical or linguistic tasks, but the manuscript must remain the product of human research, human analysis, human reasoning, and human responsibility.

Authors may use AI-assisted tools for limited purposes such as:

  1. Improving grammar
  2. Correcting spelling
  3. Refining sentence structure
  4. Improving readability
  5. Formatting text
  6. Checking consistency
  7. Organizing references
  8. Translating short passages for initial understanding
  9. Preparing tables or summaries for author review
  10. Improving technical presentation

However, AI tools must not be used in a way that produces false scholarship, fabricated references, unsupported arguments, inaccurate translations, invented Hadith or Qur’anic citations, misleading summaries, or unverified academic claims.

AI Cannot Be Listed as an Author

AI tools, chatbots, language models, or automated systems cannot be listed as authors or co-authors of a manuscript submitted to Research Journal Al-Qamar.

Authorship requires human responsibility, intellectual contribution, ethical accountability, final approval, and the ability to respond to questions about the work. AI tools cannot fulfill these responsibilities.

Therefore:

  1. AI cannot be named as an author.
  2. AI cannot be named as a co-author.
  3. AI cannot take responsibility for the content.
  4. AI cannot approve the final manuscript.
  5. AI cannot be accountable for errors or misconduct.
  6. AI cannot hold copyright or moral authorship rights.
  7. AI cannot respond to ethical concerns.

Authors who use AI tools remain fully responsible for all content in the manuscript.

Author Responsibility

Authors are responsible for checking, verifying, and approving every part of the manuscript, whether or not AI tools were used during preparation.

Authors must ensure that:

  1. The manuscript is original.
  2. All claims are accurate.
  3. References are real and verifiable.
  4. Quotations are correct.
  5. Qur’anic verses are accurate.
  6. Hadith references are authentic and properly cited.
  7. Translations are faithful to the original.
  8. Arguments are based on evidence.
  9. No fabricated material is included.
  10. AI-generated errors are removed.
  11. Ethical declarations are accurate.
  12. The manuscript does not violate copyright or plagiarism policy.

The use of AI does not reduce the responsibility of authors. If AI-generated mistakes, fabricated citations, false statements, or plagiarism appear in the manuscript, the authors remain responsible.

Permitted Uses of AI

The journal may permit AI-assisted technologies for limited supportive purposes, provided that the final manuscript is carefully reviewed and verified by the author.

Permitted uses may include:

  1. Grammar correction
  2. Spelling correction
  3. Language polishing
  4. Improving clarity of sentences
  5. Formatting assistance
  6. Reference management support
  7. Checking consistency of headings
  8. Preparing an initial language draft that is fully revised by the author
  9. Translating simple phrases for preliminary understanding
  10. Technical support in tables or formatting
  11. Improving readability of author-written material
  12. Assisting with abstract refinement, where the content remains author-verified

Such use should not replace the author’s intellectual contribution, analysis, argument, interpretation, or responsibility.

Prohibited Uses of AI

The journal does not permit AI use that violates academic integrity, research ethics, originality, or accuracy.

The following uses are not acceptable:

  1. Generating a full manuscript and submitting it as original research.
  2. Creating fake references, fake books, fake articles, or false DOI numbers.
  3. Producing invented Qur’anic, Hadith, legal, or historical citations.
  4. Creating fabricated data, interviews, surveys, or fieldwork.
  5. Generating false claims about scholars, texts, institutions, or events.
  6. Paraphrasing plagiarized material to hide copying.
  7. Producing translations without human verification.
  8. Using AI to avoid proper citation.
  9. Creating misleading summaries of sources not actually consulted.
  10. Submitting AI-written content without intellectual review by the author.
  11. Using AI-generated images, tables, or figures without disclosure where relevant.
  12. Uploading confidential manuscripts into unauthorized AI systems during review.
  13. Using AI to manipulate peer review or editorial communication.
  14. Using AI to create fake reviewer identities or review reports.
  15. Using AI in any way that misleads the journal, reviewers, or readers.

Any serious misuse of AI may result in rejection, withdrawal, correction, retraction, or further editorial action.

AI Use Disclosure

Authors should disclose the use of AI-assisted technologies where such tools have significantly contributed to the preparation of the manuscript. Minor use for spelling, grammar, or basic formatting may not require detailed disclosure unless requested by the journal.

Disclosure is required when AI has been used for:

  1. Substantial language rewriting
  2. Translation assistance
  3. Summarization of literature
  4. Data analysis support
  5. Preparation of tables or figures
  6. Generation or modification of images
  7. Drafting sections of the manuscript
  8. Developing abstracts or summaries
  9. Organizing arguments or structure
  10. Any use that materially affects the manuscript

The disclosure should be placed in a suitable section such as Acknowledgement, Declaration, or AI Use Statement, according to the journal’s submission requirements.

Suggested AI Use Statement

Authors may use the following format where applicable:

AI Use Statement:
The author(s) used AI-assisted technology for language improvement and grammatical refinement only. The author(s) reviewed, edited, verified, and approved the final manuscript and remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, references, arguments, and ethical compliance of the work.

Where AI was used more substantially, authors should give clearer details:

AI Use Statement:
AI-assisted technology was used to support language editing and preliminary organization of the manuscript. All scholarly arguments, references, translations, Qur’anic and Hadith citations, analysis, and conclusions were checked and verified by the author(s). The author(s) remain fully responsible for the final content.

If no AI was used, authors may state:

AI Use Statement:
The author(s) declare that no AI-assisted technology was used in the preparation of this manuscript.

AI and References

AI tools may produce false, incomplete, or fabricated references. Authors must not rely on AI-generated references without verification.

Authors must personally check:

  1. Author names
  2. Book titles
  3. Article titles
  4. Journal names
  5. Volume and issue numbers
  6. Page numbers
  7. Publisher details
  8. Year of publication
  9. DOI numbers
  10. URLs
  11. Qur’anic references
  12. Hadith references
  13. Legal citations
  14. Classical source editions

Fake, unverifiable, or AI-generated references are serious academic misconduct. If fabricated references are found, the manuscript may be rejected or, if already published, corrected or retracted.

AI and Plagiarism

AI tools must not be used to hide plagiarism. Rewriting copied material through AI does not make it original. Authors must cite the original source whenever they use another scholar’s ideas, arguments, data, classifications, interpretations, or words.

Unethical AI-related plagiarism includes:

  1. Using AI to paraphrase copied text without citation.
  2. Submitting AI-generated summaries of sources without acknowledgment.
  3. Using AI to translate another author’s work without citation.
  4. Presenting AI-generated text as original scholarship.
  5. Using AI to combine copied material from different sources.
  6. Removing citation markers from AI-edited text.
  7. Using AI to disguise self-plagiarism.

The journal may use similarity checking, editorial review, and reference verification to identify such issues.

AI and Translation

AI-assisted translation may be useful for preliminary language support, but it must be carefully checked by the author. This is especially important in Islamic Studies, where small translation errors may seriously affect meaning.

Authors must carefully verify AI-assisted translations of:

  1. Qur’anic verses
  2. Hadith texts
  3. Classical Arabic passages
  4. Urdu texts
  5. Persian texts
  6. Legal terminology
  7. Theological terminology
  8. Sufi terminology
  9. Historical passages
  10. Technical Islamic terms

AI translation must not be accepted as final without expert human review. Misleading or inaccurate translation may result in revision or rejection.

AI and Religious Texts

Because Research Journal Al-Qamar publishes research in Islamic Studies and related fields, the use of AI in relation to religious texts requires special caution.

Authors must not rely on AI alone for:

  1. Qur’anic interpretation
  2. Hadith authentication
  3. Fiqh rulings
  4. Classical Arabic analysis
  5. Theological classification
  6. Attribution of opinions to scholars
  7. Historical claims about religious movements
  8. Fatwa-related claims
  9. Sectarian classifications
  10. Translation of sacred texts

All religious references must be verified from reliable primary and secondary sources. AI-generated religious claims without scholarly verification are not acceptable.

AI and Data Analysis

If AI or automated tools are used for data analysis, coding, classification, statistical processing, text mining, or digital humanities work, authors must explain the method clearly.

Authors should disclose:

  1. Name of tool or software, where relevant
  2. Purpose of use
  3. Type of data analyzed
  4. Method of verification
  5. Human supervision involved
  6. Limitations of the tool
  7. Whether results were checked manually
  8. Any risk of error or bias

AI-assisted data analysis must be transparent enough for editors, reviewers, and readers to understand how conclusions were reached.

AI-generated Images, Tables, and Figures

If AI tools are used to create or modify images, tables, figures, charts, diagrams, or visual material, authors must disclose this use where relevant.

Authors must ensure that AI-generated or AI-modified material:

  1. Does not misrepresent data.
  2. Does not fabricate evidence.
  3. Does not violate copyright.
  4. Is properly labelled where required.
  5. Does not create false historical or manuscript images.
  6. Does not alter religious or archival material misleadingly.
  7. Is consistent with the article’s evidence and argument.

AI-generated images should not be used as evidence unless their nature is clearly explained.

AI and Confidentiality in Peer Review

Reviewers and editors must not upload confidential manuscripts, unpublished data, reviewer reports, author identities, or editorial correspondence into unauthorized AI tools or public AI systems.

Manuscripts under review are confidential documents. Uploading such material into external AI systems may violate confidentiality, copyright, privacy, and peer-review ethics.

Reviewers and editors must protect:

  1. Manuscript files
  2. Author identities
  3. Reviewer identities
  4. Unpublished arguments
  5. Unpublished data
  6. Ethical complaints
  7. Reviewer reports
  8. Editorial decisions
  9. Internal correspondence
  10. Supplementary files

AI tools must not be used in peer review unless the journal has specifically approved such use and confidentiality can be protected.

AI Use by Reviewers

Reviewers may not use AI tools to generate review reports without permission from the journal. Peer review requires expert human judgment, subject knowledge, ethical responsibility, and confidential handling of unpublished work.

Reviewers must not:

  1. Upload manuscripts to AI tools without permission.
  2. Generate review reports using AI without disclosure.
  3. Allow AI to replace their expert judgment.
  4. Use AI-generated criticism without verification.
  5. Share confidential content with external tools.
  6. Use AI to identify authors in blind review.
  7. Use AI to extract unpublished ideas for personal use.

Reviewer comments must reflect the reviewer’s own scholarly assessment.

AI Use by Editors

Editors may use digital tools for administrative support, formatting checks, similarity checking, or workflow management, but editorial decisions must be made by human editors.

AI must not replace:

  1. Editorial judgment
  2. Peer-review assessment
  3. Ethical investigation
  4. Final acceptance or rejection decision
  5. Authorship evaluation
  6. Correction or retraction decisions
  7. Conflict of interest assessment
  8. Religious or scholarly verification

Editors remain responsible for all editorial decisions.

AI and Bias

AI tools may produce biased, incomplete, inaccurate, or culturally insensitive content. In Islamic Studies and humanities research, AI tools may also misrepresent religious traditions, scholars, historical events, sectarian identities, legal schools, or non-English texts.

Authors must check AI-assisted content for:

  1. Bias
  2. Inaccuracy
  3. Misrepresentation
  4. Unsupported claims
  5. Sectarian imbalance
  6. Cultural insensitivity
  7. Incorrect terminology
  8. Incomplete context
  9. False attribution
  10. Overgeneralization

The journal expects authors to maintain balanced and evidence-based scholarship.

AI and Copyright

AI-generated or AI-assisted content may raise copyright and intellectual property concerns. Authors must ensure that AI use does not produce copied, copyrighted, or improperly reused material.

Authors must avoid:

  1. Reproducing copyrighted text through AI.
  2. Using AI-generated summaries of copyrighted material without citation.
  3. Creating derivative content from protected works without permission.
  4. Using AI-generated images that imitate protected material without rights.
  5. Submitting text whose source cannot be verified.

Authors are responsible for ensuring that the submitted manuscript does not violate copyright or intellectual property rights.

AI and Research Integrity

AI must not be used to create a false impression of research. The journal does not accept manuscripts that rely on AI-generated material instead of genuine scholarly investigation.

AI misuse may include:

  1. Invented fieldwork
  2. Fake interview responses
  3. False statistical data
  4. Fabricated archival references
  5. Imaginary manuscripts
  6. Fake legal cases
  7. Invented quotations
  8. False attributions to scholars
  9. Fake bibliographies
  10. Unsupported claims presented as research findings

Such misuse may lead to rejection or retraction.

Editorial Action for Misuse of AI

If the journal suspects misuse of AI, it may ask the author for clarification, source verification, original data, reference confirmation, translation details, or an AI use statement.

Possible editorial actions may include:

  1. Request for explanation
  2. Request for revised AI disclosure
  3. Request for source verification
  4. Request for correction of references
  5. Return of manuscript for revision
  6. Rejection before review
  7. Rejection after review
  8. Withdrawal from consideration
  9. Correction after publication
  10. Expression of concern
  11. Retraction after publication
  12. Restriction on future submissions in serious cases

The action will depend on the seriousness of the issue.

Detection of AI Use

The journal may use editorial judgment, reference verification, similarity checking, reviewer assessment, and other available methods to identify possible AI-related concerns. However, the journal recognizes that AI-detection tools are not always fully reliable and should not be used as the only basis for a serious decision.

If AI use is suspected, the journal may seek clarification from the author before taking final action.

Human Accountability

The central principle of this policy is human accountability. Every manuscript must have human authors who take responsibility for the research, argument, evidence, citations, translations, and conclusions.

Authors must be able to explain:

  1. Research design
  2. Sources used
  3. Methodology
  4. Data or evidence
  5. Interpretation
  6. Citations
  7. Translations
  8. Religious references
  9. Conclusions
  10. Ethical declarations

If authors cannot verify or explain the content of their manuscript, the manuscript may not be suitable for publication.

Final Author Declaration

By submitting a manuscript to Research Journal Al-Qamar, authors declare that any use of AI or AI-assisted technologies has been responsible, limited, transparent where required, and fully verified by the author(s).

Authors also confirm that:

  1. AI has not been listed as an author.
  2. The manuscript remains the product of human scholarship.
  3. All references have been verified.
  4. All quotations have been checked.
  5. All translations have been reviewed.
  6. Qur’anic and Hadith citations are accurate.
  7. No fabricated content has been included.
  8. Any significant AI use has been disclosed.
  9. The author(s) remain fully responsible for the manuscript.
  10. The manuscript follows the journal’s publication ethics policy.

Final Statement

Research Journal Al-Qamar supports responsible and transparent use of AI-assisted technologies where they improve language, formatting, accessibility, and technical quality. However, AI must never replace human scholarship, original research, ethical responsibility, peer review, editorial judgment, or accurate academic verification.

The journal expects authors, reviewers, and editors to use AI carefully, honestly, and responsibly so that published research remains original, reliable, verifiable, respectful, and academically valuable.