Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy

"Research Focus" International Scientific Journal follows the COPE position on authorship and AI tools. This policy applies to authors, reviewers and editors.

Authors

AI tools, including large language models such as ChatGPT, cannot be listed as authors, because they cannot take responsibility for the work, approve the final manuscript or declare conflicts of interest.

Authors may use AI tools to improve the language and readability of their text. Any other use (for example, generating text, analysing data, preparing figures or searching the literature) must be described in the Methods section or in a separate statement at the end of the manuscript, naming the tool and explaining how it was used.

Authors remain fully responsible for the content of the manuscript, including any part prepared with the help of AI. All AI output must be checked for accuracy, bias and correct citation, and references suggested by AI tools must be verified against the original sources.

Images, figures and data created or altered with generative AI are not accepted, unless the use of AI is itself part of the research design and is fully described.

Reviewers

Manuscripts under review are confidential. Reviewers must not upload a manuscript or any part of it to AI tools, and must not use such tools to write their review reports.

Editors

Editors do not upload submitted manuscripts or related correspondence to AI tools. Editorial decisions are made by people and are not delegated to AI.

Undisclosed use

If undisclosed use of AI is found before publication, the manuscript may be returned to the authors or rejected. If it is found after publication, the journal acts in line with its policy on corrections and retractions.

Contact

Questions about this policy: ReFocusJournal@gmail.com