Generative AI & Tech Standards

Purpose and Scope

This policy outlines the permitted and prohibited uses of generative artificial intelligence (AI) and AI-assisted technologies across manuscript preparation, OJS submission, double-blind peer review, and editorial workflows for the Journal of Exact Community Health & Rehabilitation Sciences (JECH), published by EXACT RESEARCH SOLUTIONS (SMC-PRIVATE) LIMITED. As health sciences, physical therapy, and community rehabilitation research evolve alongside emerging technology, this policy establishes clear standards to maintain scientific integrity, author accountability, and manuscript confidentiality.

Authors

Permitted Use

Authors submitting to JECH may use AI-assisted tools (e.g., spelling/grammar checkers or translation software) strictly to enhance readability, refine sentence structure, or improve language presentation. Such usage must not alter the primary research findings, clinical data, or scientific conclusions.

Prohibited Uses

Generative AI and large language models (LLMs) must never be used to:

  • Fabricate, synthesize, or manipulate research data, clinical outcomes, or bibliographic citations.

  • Generate misleading scientific, epidemiological, or rehabilitation-related research content.

  • Create, alter, or manipulate medical images, diagnostic figures, clinical graphs, or data visualizations, unless the development/evaluation of AI algorithms is central to the research methodology and explicitly detailed in the peer-reviewed manuscript.

Human Oversight & Accountability

Authors remain strictly and fully responsible for the truthfulness, accuracy, originality, and scientific integrity of all content submitted to JECH. Because authorship requires moral, legal, and scientific accountability under ICMJE Recommendations, generative AI tools or software programs cannot be credited or listed as authors or co-authors.

Mandatory Disclosure

If AI-assisted technologies are used for manuscript preparation beyond basic language editing or proofreading, authors must explicitly disclose this in a dedicated manuscript section titled:

"Declaration of Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies in the Writing Process"

This statement must detail the exact name of the tool/software used, the specific purpose of its application, and an explicit declaration that the human authors have critically reviewed and verified all AI-generated text or analysis for complete accuracy.

Peer Reviewers

Peer reviewers assigned by JECH operate under strict confidentiality agreements. Reviewers are strictly prohibited from uploading, pasting, copying, or inputting any part of an unpublished manuscript, supplementary datasets, or peer-review communications into generative AI platforms, online tools, or third-party cloud systems, as doing so violates author confidentiality and proprietary IP rights.

Editors and Editorial Board Members

Handling editors, Section Editors, and Editorial Board members must treat all submitted manuscripts and internal decision notes as strictly confidential. Editors must not enter any manuscript text, reviewer reports, or editorial correspondence into external AI tools or automated processing software.

Compliance and Updates

Unattributed or unauthorized use of generative AI technologies, data fabrication via AI, or breaches of peer-review confidentiality constitute serious scientific misconduct. Violations may result in immediate manuscript rejection, formal article retraction, notifications sent to institutional ethics committees, or submission restrictions under JECH and COPE guidelines.

This policy is continuously monitored and updated by EXACT RESEARCH SOLUTIONS (SMC-PRIVATE) LIMITED as international publishing ethics and technological standards evolve.

Contact for Inquiries

  • Official Email: Admin@jech.exactresolution.com

  • Publisher Office: EXACT RESEARCH SOLUTIONS (SMC-PRIVATE) LIMITED, Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan