1. Purpose and Editorial Commitment

The Journal of Integrated Elementary Education (As-Shuffah) recognizes the growing role of artificial intelligence (AI) in educational research, academic writing, and scholarly publishing.

The journal supports the responsible, transparent, and ethically appropriate use of AI-assisted technologies while upholding the principles of scientific integrity, human accountability, confidentiality, originality, and editorial independence.

This policy establishes clear requirements governing the use of AI by authors, peer reviewers, editors, and editorial personnel throughout the research and publication process.

The policy is informed by internationally recognized scholarly publishing principles, including guidance from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), as well as the 2026 Indonesian Scientific Journal Accreditation Technical Guidelines, particularly Section C.3 concerning artificial intelligence.

AI may support certain research and publishing activities; however, it must not replace human intellectual responsibility, independent scholarly evaluation, or editorial decision-making.

2. Scope and Definitions

This policy applies to all manuscripts submitted to or published in As-Shuffah, including original research articles and review articles.

It covers the use of generative AI and other AI-assisted technologies in the following activities:

• Research planning and manuscript preparation.

• Academic writing, translation, and language editing.

• Literature identification and evidence synthesis.

• Research data processing and analysis.

• Preparation of tables, figures, and visual materials.

• Editorial screening and administrative activities.

• Peer review and editorial decision-making.

• Post-publication corrections and scholarly communication.

For the purposes of this policy, AI-assisted technologies include large language models, generative AI systems, AI-powered writing tools, automated analytical systems, and related technologies capable of generating, transforming, interpreting, or evaluating content.

Routine spelling and formatting tools that do not substantively generate or alter scholarly content are distinguished from AI assistance that materially contributes to research or manuscript preparation.

3. Fundamental Principles

As-Shuffah applies the following principles to all AI-related activities.

3.1. Human Responsibility

Authors, editors, and other responsible individuals remain accountable for the accuracy, originality, integrity, and ethical compliance of their work. AI-generated output must not be accepted as scientifically valid without independent human verification.

3.2. Transparency and Disclosure

Substantive AI assistance must be disclosed in accordance with the responsibilities of the individuals involved and the nature of the activity. Disclosure should enable editors and readers to understand how AI contributed to the research or publication process.

3.3. Scientific Integrity

AI must not be used to fabricate, falsify, manipulate, or misrepresent research data, findings, references, or interpretations.

3.4. Confidentiality and Data Protection

Unpublished manuscripts, confidential editorial information, and protected research data must not be disclosed to unauthorized AI systems.

3.5. Editorial Independence

Scientific evaluations, peer-review reports, and editorial decisions must remain the responsibility of qualified human researchers, reviewers, and editors.

3.6. Compliance with Publication Ethics

All AI-assisted activities must comply with As-Shuffah's Author Guidelines, Publication Ethics, Peer Review Policy, and applicable legal and ethical requirements.

4. AI Use by Authors

Authors may use AI-assisted technologies for legitimate research and manuscript-preparation activities, provided that such use is transparent, scientifically appropriate, and consistent with research-integrity requirements.

4.1. Permitted AI Assistance

Subject to appropriate verification and disclosure, AI may assist with the following activities.

A. Language and Writing Support

• Grammar and spelling correction.

• Academic language refinement.

• Translation assistance.

• Improvement of readability and linguistic clarity.

• Organization of draft material without misrepresenting the author's scholarly arguments.

B. Research and Analytical Support

• Preliminary identification of potentially relevant literature.

• Assistance in organizing research information.

• Development or refinement of analytical code.

• Computational data processing.

• Support for qualitative or quantitative analytical workflows.

• Preparation of explanatory diagrams or illustrative materials.

C. Review Article Preparation

• Assistance in organizing search terms and search strategies.

• Support for reference screening or classification where methodologically justified.

• Assistance with evidence extraction or synthesis, subject to appropriate human verification.

Such assistance must not substitute for the researchers' independent assessment of evidence, methodological decisions, or scholarly interpretation.

Authors must ensure that AI-assisted research procedures are described with sufficient transparency and reproducibility.

4.2. Human Verification Requirements

Authors must independently verify all AI-assisted material before submission. Verification must include, where applicable:

• The factual accuracy of generated statements.

• The authenticity and relevance of references.

• The validity of research procedures.

• The accuracy of analytical code and computational outputs.

• The consistency of reported findings with the underlying evidence.

• The appropriateness of theoretical interpretations.

• Potential biases, inaccuracies, or unsupported claims.

Authors must not rely on AI-generated summaries or interpretations without consulting the relevant scholarly sources and research evidence.

5. Prohibited AI Practices by Authors

As-Shuffah prohibits the use of AI in ways that compromise scientific integrity, transparency, or research ethics.

Prohibited practices include:

1. Data fabrication: Generating fictitious research participants, observations, measurements, interviews, or experimental results and presenting them as authentic data.

2. Data falsification: Altering, suppressing, or manipulating research evidence to support predetermined findings.

3. Fabricated references: Including nonexistent publications, incorrect DOI information, invented quotations, or misleading citations.

4. Misleading scholarly content: Presenting unsupported AI-generated arguments or interpretations as established research findings.

5. Fraudulent research reporting: Describing research procedures, participant interactions, analyses, or ethical approvals that did not occur.

6. Undisclosed substantive AI use: Concealing AI assistance when disclosure is required under this policy.

7. Unauthorized disclosure of protected information: Uploading confidential participant data, unpublished third-party materials, or identifiable student records to AI systems without appropriate authorization and safeguards.

8. Inappropriate manipulation of visual evidence: Creating or modifying images, figures, recordings, or other materials in ways that misrepresent actual research evidence.

9. Misrepresentation of authorship: Listing an AI system as an author or attributing responsibility for scholarly work to a nonhuman system.

AI must not be used to replace authors' responsibility for research design, interpretation of evidence, scientific conclusions, or manuscript integrity.

6. AI Authorship and Intellectual Accountability

AI tools, chatbots, language models, and automated systems cannot be listed as authors or co-authors of manuscripts submitted to As-Shuffah.

Authorship requires intellectual accountability, approval of the final manuscript, responsibility for the published content, and the ability to respond to scholarly and ethical concerns. AI systems cannot fulfill these responsibilities.

Human authors remain responsible for:

• The originality and accuracy of the manuscript.

• The integrity of research data and methods.

• Proper source attribution and copyright compliance.

• The accuracy of AI-assisted outputs.

• All scholarly interpretations and conclusions.

• Compliance with the journal's ethical requirements.

AI-generated text or output must not substitute for appropriate citation of the original scholarly literature.

7. Mandatory AI Use Disclosure by Authors

Authors must disclose substantive AI assistance used in manuscript preparation or research activities. The disclosure must accurately reflect the nature and extent of AI involvement.

7.1. Information to Be Disclosed

Where applicable, authors should provide the following information:

Disclosure Element	Required Information
AI Tool	Name of the AI tool or system used.
Provider and Version	Developer or provider and model or version, where identifiable and relevant.
Purpose	Specific reason for using the tool.
Stage of Use	Research planning, analysis, writing, editing, or another stage of the research process.
Nature of Assistance	Description of how the tool contributed to the work.
Human Verification	Explanation of how the AI-generated outputs were reviewed and validated.

7.2. Location of the Disclosure

A. Writing and Language Assistance

Substantive AI assistance in writing, translation, or language editing should be disclosed in an AI Use Declaration or another appropriate disclosure section of the manuscript.

B. Research Methods and Data Analysis

When AI is used in data collection, coding, analysis, evidence synthesis, or another methodological procedure, authors must explain its use in the Methods section.

The methodological description must provide sufficient information to enable readers to evaluate and, where appropriate, reproduce the process.

C. OJS Submission

Authors must also complete any AI-related declarations required by the journal's online submission system.

7.3. Routine Language Tools

Routine spelling correction, basic grammar checking, and formatting functions that do not materially generate or change scholarly content do not ordinarily require a detailed AI declaration.

However, substantive AI-assisted rewriting, content development, analytical assistance, and other material contributions must be disclosed.

When uncertain, authors are encouraged to disclose AI assistance transparently.

7.4. Examples of AI Use Declarations

Example A: AI-Assisted Language Editing

During manuscript preparation, the authors used [AI Tool, Provider, and Version] to assist with English-language editing and readability. The authors independently reviewed and revised the output and verified the accuracy of the manuscript. All research data, analyses, interpretations, and conclusions remain the responsibility of the authors.

Example B: AI-Assisted Research Analysis

The authors used [AI Tool, Provider, and Version] to support [specific analytical activity]. The tool was applied during [research stage] using [brief description of relevant procedures]. All AI-assisted outputs were independently evaluated and validated through [verification procedure]. The authors take full responsibility for the research findings and interpretations.

Example C: No Substantive AI Assistance

The authors declare that no generative AI or other AI-assisted technologies that materially contributed to the preparation of this manuscript were used.

These examples must be adapted to reflect the actual circumstances of each manuscript. Authors must not submit declarations that misrepresent their use of AI.

8. AI in Educational Research Involving Children

Research involving elementary school students requires particular care when AI-assisted technologies are used.

Authors must protect children's privacy, dignity, safety, and personal information. AI-assisted educational research must comply with applicable institutional requirements, data protection regulations, consent procedures, and research ethics principles.

8.1. Protection of Student Information

Authors must not upload identifiable student information, confidential school records, interview transcripts, photographs, recordings, or other protected data to unauthorized AI platforms.

Relevant safeguards may include:

• Data minimization and appropriate anonymization.

• Institutional authorization, where required.

• Parental or guardian consent and child assent, where applicable.

• Secure data-processing procedures.

• Restrictions on third-party access and data retention.

• Verification that the intended AI processing is consistent with participant consent and research ethics approval.

Anonymization alone may be insufficient when contextual information could reasonably permit re-identification.

8.2. Research Evaluating AI-Based Educational Interventions

As-Shuffah welcomes rigorous and ethical research on AI-supported educational tools, learning systems, and pedagogical interventions that align with the journal's Aims and Scope.

Such research must explain the role of AI in the intervention or study, relevant implementation procedures, limitations, potential risks, and safeguards.

Research that evaluates an AI-based educational intervention is distinct from using AI to generate or evaluate peer-review reports.

9. AI-Generated Images, Figures, and Research Materials

AI-assisted visual materials must be used transparently and responsibly.

Authors may use AI-generated explanatory illustrations or diagrams when they are scientifically appropriate, properly disclosed, and consistent with copyright and publication requirements.

AI-generated material must not be presented as authentic research observations or original participant data when it does not represent actual evidence.

The following practices are prohibited:

• Creating artificial research evidence and presenting it as genuine.

• Generating fictitious classroom documentation.

• Fabricating participant photographs or observations.

• Altering scientific figures to conceal or misrepresent findings.

• Creating misleading visual representations of quantitative or qualitative evidence.

When AI-assisted images are included, authors should explain their origin and purpose in the figure caption, declaration, or methodological description, as appropriate.

Authors must ensure that generated materials do not infringe copyright, violate privacy, or misrepresent educational research.

10. AI Use by Peer Reviewers

As-Shuffah strictly prohibits peer reviewers from using artificial intelligence to evaluate submitted manuscripts.

This prohibition follows the requirements of the 2026 Indonesian Scientific Journal Accreditation Technical Guidelines, Section C.3.

10.1. Prohibited Reviewer Activities

Peer reviewers must not use AI tools to:

1. Analyze the scientific content of a submitted manuscript.

2. Evaluate research originality, methodology, evidence, or conclusions.

3. Summarize manuscripts for the purpose of conducting peer review.

4. Assess manuscript quality or generate evaluative judgments.

5. Draft, generate, rewrite, or substantively edit peer-review comments.

6. Produce recommendations concerning manuscript acceptance, revision, or rejection.

7. Upload or enter an unpublished manuscript, in whole or in part, into an AI application.

8. Upload manuscript-related figures, tables, data, appendices, reviewer reports, or confidential correspondence to AI systems.

This prohibition applies whether AI is used as the primary evaluator or as an auxiliary tool during peer review.

10.2. Independent Human Evaluation

Peer-review reports must reflect each reviewer's own scientific expertise, independent analysis, and professional judgment.

Reviewers are expected to evaluate submissions directly and provide constructive, evidence-based comments. Scientific weaknesses, ethical concerns, and methodological limitations must be assessed through independent scholarly reasoning.

10.3. Reviewer Declaration

As-Shuffah requires reviewers to comply with this policy throughout the evaluation process.

The following declaration may be incorporated into the journal's OJS review form.

Reviewer AI Compliance Declaration

I confirm that I have independently evaluated this manuscript without using artificial intelligence to analyze, assess, summarize, or generate peer-review comments or recommendations. I have not uploaded the manuscript or any part of its confidential materials to an AI application.

Reviewers who cannot comply with this requirement must decline the assignment or inform the handling editor.

11. AI Use by Editors and Editorial Personnel

As-Shuffah permits carefully controlled AI assistance for limited editorial and administrative purposes when such use is consistent with confidentiality, transparency, data protection, and applicable regulations.

11.1. Permitted Administrative Assistance

Subject to appropriate safeguards, AI may assist with activities such as:

• Preparing general editorial communication templates.

• Improving the language of non-confidential administrative announcements.

• Organizing publicly available journal information.

• Supporting internal workflow documentation that contains no protected manuscript information.

• Performing other limited administrative tasks authorized by the journal.

Any substantive AI assistance used by the editorial team must be disclosed or appropriately documented according to its purpose and context.

11.2. Prohibited Editorial Practices

Editors and editorial personnel must not use AI to replace human scientific evaluation or editorial responsibility.

AI must not be used to:

• Independently determine the scientific merit of a manuscript.

• Replace expert evaluation of research design, evidence, or conclusions.

• Generate final editorial decisions without independent human judgment.

• Substitute for qualified peer reviewers.

• Automatically resolve allegations of research misconduct.

• Make acceptance or rejection decisions without appropriate editorial assessment.

• Disclose unpublished manuscripts or confidential review materials to unauthorized AI systems.

11.3. Editorial Accountability

The Editor-in-Chief and authorized editors remain responsible for all editorial decisions.

AI-generated recommendations or administrative assistance do not transfer or diminish editorial accountability.

Editorial decisions must be based on scientific merit, appropriate peer-review evidence, ethical compliance, and the independent judgment of qualified human editors.

11.4. Editorial AI Disclosure

When substantive AI assistance is used for permitted editorial functions, the editorial office should document:

• The AI tool used.

• The purpose and scope of the activity.

• The type of information processed.

• The responsible editorial personnel.

• Relevant human verification.

• Applicable confidentiality and data protection safeguards.

Such documentation supports transparency, accountability, and internal quality assurance.

12. Confidentiality, Intellectual Property, and Data Security

All parties involved in As-Shuffah's publishing process must protect unpublished scholarly material and confidential information, including:

• Submitted manuscripts and revisions.

• Unpublished research data.

• Reviewer reports and recommendations.

• Confidential editorial correspondence.

• Research participant information.

• Copyrighted or proprietary materials.

• Other information protected by ethical, contractual, or legal requirements.

Authors must ensure that any transfer of research material to AI systems is authorized and consistent with participant consent, applicable rights, and data protection requirements.

Editors and editorial personnel must not upload confidential manuscripts to unauthorized external AI services.

Peer reviewers are subject to the stricter prohibition established in Section 10 of this policy and must not upload submitted manuscript content to AI applications.

As-Shuffah does not assume that publicly accessible or commercially available AI systems are automatically confidential or secure.

13. AI Detection and Editorial Screening

As-Shuffah may use authorized similarity-screening and editorial quality-assurance tools as part of its established manuscript-screening process. The journal uses Turnitin to support similarity assessment.

Where an AI-writing detection function is available, its output must be treated as a preliminary indicator rather than conclusive evidence of AI use or research misconduct.

13.1. Limitations of Automated Detection

Automated AI-detection systems may produce inaccurate or misleading results, including false positives and false negatives.

Therefore:

• AI-detection scores do not independently establish misconduct.

• Manuscripts must not be rejected solely because of an automated AI-writing score.

• A low detection score does not establish compliance with the journal's AI disclosure requirements.

• Editors must evaluate concerns in context and consider the available evidence.

13.2. Human Editorial Assessment

When concerns arise regarding undisclosed AI use, the editor may request clarification, relevant disclosures, methodological explanations, or supporting documentation.

All assessments must be proportionate, fair, and consistent with the journal's Publication Ethics and Research Misconduct policies.

Authorized screening tools must be used in accordance with applicable confidentiality and data protection requirements.

14. Non-Compliance and Ethical Investigation

As-Shuffah takes violations of its AI Use Policy seriously.

Potential violations include:

• Undisclosed substantive AI assistance.

• Fabricated AI-generated research data or references.

• Misleading reporting of AI-supported analyses.

• Unauthorized disclosure of confidential research material.

• Prohibited use of AI during peer review.

• Improper reliance on AI for editorial decisions.

14.1. Preliminary Assessment

Editors assess credible concerns based on the available evidence. An allegation or automated detection result alone does not constitute proof of misconduct.

14.2. Opportunity for Clarification

Where appropriate, the individuals concerned may be asked to explain their actions and provide relevant information.

The journal seeks to distinguish honest errors, misunderstandings of disclosure requirements, and deliberate or serious misconduct.

14.3. Corrective and Editorial Actions

Depending on the seriousness of the violation and the stage of publication, possible actions include:

• Requesting an amended AI disclosure.

• Requiring correction or revision of affected content.

• Requesting additional verification of research evidence.

• Reassigning a manuscript to a different reviewer.

• Disregarding a compromised peer-review report.

• Suspending or discontinuing reviewer assignments.

• Rejecting a manuscript when justified.

• Referring serious concerns to the relevant institutions.

• Issuing a correction, expression of concern, or retraction after publication, when warranted.

All actions must be consistent with due process, proportionality, and the journal's established ethical procedures.

15. Responsibilities and Compliance Summary

Role	AI Use Requirements
Authors	Responsible AI assistance may be permitted. Substantive use must be disclosed and scientifically verified.
Peer Reviewers	AI use for manuscript analysis, evaluation, review-comment preparation, or uploading submitted manuscript content is prohibited.
Editors	Limited, authorized administrative assistance may be permitted. Substantive use must be documented or disclosed, and AI must not replace scientific or editorial judgment.
Editorial Personnel	Must follow authorized administrative procedures and maintain confidentiality, transparency, and human oversight.
Publisher	Supports implementation, oversight, and periodic review of the journal's AI-related publishing practices.

These requirements apply throughout manuscript submission, evaluation, revision, publication, and post-publication processes.

16. Policy Implementation and Review

As-Shuffah periodically reviews this policy to respond to developments in AI technologies, scholarly publishing standards, research ethics, and applicable regulations.

Any revisions must preserve the principles of scientific integrity, editorial independence, confidentiality, transparency, and human accountability.

Substantive updates will be communicated through the journal's official website.

Policy References

This policy draws on the following guidance and resources:

1. Ministry of Higher Education, Science, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia. Decree of the Director General of Science and Technology No. 374/DST/D.D1/HM.01.01/2026: Technical Guidelines for Scientific Journal Accreditation, Section C.3.

2. Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Core Practices.

3. International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). Use of Artificial Intelligence in Publishing.

4. Elsevier. Generative AI Policies for Journals