1. General Principles

Artificial intelligence (AI) technology is rapidly evolving and offers new tools for academic research. To regulate the use of AI tools in manuscript preparation and peer review, and to uphold academic integrity and the transparency of the research process, the Journal establishes this policy. All submitting authors and reviewers must comply.

2. Policy for Authors

(1)  Disclosure and Accountability: Authors must explicitly declare in the manuscript (typically in the Methods or Acknowledgments section) whether AI tools were used to assist in research or writing, specifying the purpose (e.g., data analysis, language polishing, literature review). Authors are ultimately responsible for the entire content of the manuscript, including AI-generated content, and must ensure its accuracy, originality, and adherence to academic ethics.

(2)  Prohibition on AI-Generated Content: The use of AI tools to directly generate key academic content, such as research data, result analysis, conclusions, figures, and tables, is strictly prohibited. An AI tool cannot be listed as an author because it cannot take responsibility for the work.

(3)  Originality and Intellectual Property: The manuscript must be the original work of the authors. Authors are responsible for ensuring that the use of AI tools does not constitute plagiarism, data fabrication, or other academic misconduct, and must comply with all relevant data privacy and protection regulations (especially concerning patient data).

3. Policy for Reviewers

(1)  Confidentiality and Independent Judgment: Reviewers must conduct the review themselves. It is strictly forbidden to upload the entire manuscript or parts of it into public AI tools (e.g., DeepSeek) for analysis, as this seriously violates the confidentiality of the peer-review process.

(2)  Limited Assistive Use: Reviewers may use AI tools in a limited capacity to assist their work, for example, to check the grammar or fluency of their written review comments. However, the academic judgment, conclusions, and recommendations of the review must be based on the reviewer's own expertise and independent judgment.

4. Enforcement and Violations

For submissions that violate this policy, the Journal reserves the right to reject or withdraw the manuscript. For reviewers who violate this policy, the Journal will cease to invite them for future reviews. Serious academic misconduct will be handled according to relevant regulations.