As researchers navigate the use of AI tools in their work, we hope our policy helps in understanding how these uses should be described in scientific manuscripts.

Image from Pixabay.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has expanded its reach over the past few years, becoming a readily available tool that anyone can use. The benefits to researchers are many-fold and so publishers are ever-adapting their processes to take into account the use of AI in studies and submitted manuscripts. Our policies have and will continue to change as tools evolve, and as such we are introducing some new measures on Biology Letters to assist authors, reviewers and readers on how AI has been used and how it should be disclosed in all manuscript submissions.

As of 3 February 2025, we will be asking authors who use AI to provide in their AI statement;

  • details of which elements of the work were generated by AI and AI-assisted technologies (specifically mentioning all sections of the manuscript created/edited/influenced by AI),
  • the name of the AI tool/Large Language Model used and the version used,
  • the date the tool was used,
  • and the list of prompts and outputs generated as a clearly labelled supplementary file(s)

The Biology Letters editorial office will be reviewing AI statements and supplementary material and will notify authors if something is absent or requires more detail. The Editorial Board will also be consulted where needed, and manuscripts may be rejected if information is missing without suitable explanation. We hope this will help authors in knowing what information to provide and will provide more clarity for reviewers and readers on how to navigate the use of AI in scientific papers.

 

We will continue to refine our policy with feedback from all areas of the research community, so please do contact the editorial office with any queries and check our information for authors page for updates.

You can let us know how you feel about our changes by contacting the editorial office at any time. More details about submitting to Biology Letters can also be found on our website.

Image credit: Pixabay.

Authors

  • Surayya Johar

    Surayya Johar

    Publishing Editor, Biology Letters