AI Policy

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy

The Pakistan Journal of Law and Policy recognizes that artificial intelligence (AI), including generative AI systems and large language models (LLMs), is increasingly used in academic research, writing, editing, translation, data analysis, and other scholarly activities. The journal permits the responsible use of AI-assisted technologies, provided that such use is consistent with academic integrity, transparency, originality, accuracy, confidentiality, and research responsibility.

Responsible Use of AI by Authors

Authors may use AI-assisted tools for legitimate scholarly purposes, including language improvement, grammar and spelling correction, translation, formatting, brainstorming, literature organization, coding, data analysis, and other appropriate research-related activities.

Authors remain fully responsible for the accuracy, originality, integrity, and scholarly reliability of the entire manuscript, including any content produced or modified with AI assistance. Authors must carefully review and verify AI-assisted content, particularly citations, references, quotations, factual statements, research findings, data, and statistical results.

Disclosure of AI Use

Authors should disclose the use of AI-assisted technologies where they have been used substantively in the preparation, analysis, or production of a manuscript.

Where disclosure is appropriate, authors should identify the AI tool used and briefly describe its purpose and nature of use. Routine use of basic tools for spelling, grammar, formatting, or language correction does not ordinarily require detailed disclosure.

An appropriate disclosure may be included in the Acknowledgements, Methodology, or another relevant section of the manuscript.

AI and Authorship

AI tools, including ChatGPT and other generative AI systems, cannot be listed as authors or co-authors. Authorship entails responsibility for the accuracy, integrity, originality, ethical compliance, and final approval of published work. These responsibilities remain with the human author(s), who must be able to account for the work and respond to questions concerning its content.

Originality, Plagiarism, and AI-Generated Content

The use of AI does not exempt authors from the journal's requirements concerning plagiarism, copyright, attribution, and research integrity.

Authors must ensure that AI-assisted content does not contain improperly reproduced, misleading, fabricated, or unattributed material. AI-generated references, citations, quotations, legal authorities, case law, statutory provisions, and other legal materials must be independently verified by the authors for accuracy, authenticity, relevance, and proper attribution.

The journal may use appropriate editorial tools and human assessment to identify potential concerns relating to originality, fabricated references, inaccurate information, or publication misconduct. The journal will not rely solely on an AI-detection score or automated indicator to determine whether misconduct has occurred. Any concerns will be assessed in context and in accordance with the journal's editorial and publication-ethics procedures.

AI-Assisted Research and Analysis

Where AI is used substantially for data analysis, coding, statistical analysis, generation of tables or figures, qualitative analysis, legal research, doctrinal analysis, or other research processes, authors should provide sufficient information about its role where relevant to the interpretation, assessment, and reproducibility of the research.

Authors remain responsible for validating all AI-assisted outputs, results, interpretations, and conclusions. In legal scholarship, authors must independently verify all legal propositions, statutory provisions, judicial decisions, case citations, quotations, and interpretations of legal authorities. AI-generated legal analysis must not be presented as verified legal research without appropriate independent review.

Confidentiality and Use of AI by Editors and Reviewers

Editors and peer reviewers must protect the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts, unpublished research, reviewer reports, and other privileged editorial information. They should not upload confidential manuscripts, peer-review materials, or privileged information into external AI systems where confidentiality cannot be adequately assured.

AI tools must not replace the independent scholarly judgment, critical assessment, or ethical responsibilities of editors and peer reviewers. Editorial decisions and peer-review recommendations must remain under human responsibility.

Editorial Assessment of AI Use

The Pakistan Journal of Law and Policy does not consider the mere use of AI-assisted technology to constitute research misconduct. The journal's primary concern is whether AI use has compromised the originality, accuracy, integrity, transparency, authorship, confidentiality, or scholarly quality of a manuscript.

Where concerns arise regarding undisclosed or inappropriate AI use, the editorial team may request clarification from the authors, seek supporting information, or take appropriate action under the journal's publication-ethics, plagiarism, and research-misconduct policies. Any action will be proportionate to the nature and seriousness of the concern and consistent with applicable editorial procedures.

Policy Review

This policy may be reviewed and updated periodically in response to developments in artificial intelligence, scholarly communication, legal research, research integrity, and recognized international publication-ethics standards.

By submitting a manuscript to the Pakistan Journal of Law and Policy, authors acknowledge their responsibility to comply with this policy and all other applicable journal policies.