POLICY ON THE USE OF GENERATIVE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (GenAI)

Bima Journal (Business, Management and Accounting Journal)

Introduction

Bima Journal (Business, Management and Accounting Journal) is committed to upholding the highest standards of academic integrity, originality, transparency, accountability, and ethical conduct in scholarly publishing. The journal promotes responsible research and publication practices across the disciplines of business, management, accounting, finance, entrepreneurship, corporate governance, and related fields.

The journal recognises that Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) and AI-assisted technologies can support scholarly activities, including academic writing, language editing, literature organisation, data analysis, and scientific communication. However, these technologies must be used ethically, transparently, and responsibly, without replacing human intellectual contributions, independent scholarly judgement, or authors' accountability for their research.

This policy establishes the principles and requirements governing the use of GenAI by authors, editors, and reviewers throughout manuscript preparation, submission, peer review, revision, and publication. It aims to safeguard research integrity, maintain public trust in scholarly publications, and ensure that AI-assisted research and writing practices comply with recognised principles of publication ethics.

1. General Principles

1.1 Transparency

Authors must clearly disclose any substantive use of GenAI or AI-assisted technologies in manuscript preparation, research analysis, data visualisation, or content development.

The disclosure must identify the AI tool and its provider, specify the purpose and extent of its use, indicate the relevant manuscript sections, and describe the procedures undertaken to verify the accuracy and reliability of AI-assisted content.

1.2 Accountability

Authors remain fully responsible and accountable for the accuracy, validity, originality, reliability, and integrity of their submitted manuscripts, including any material generated, modified, translated, or enhanced using AI-assisted technologies.

The use of AI does not transfer responsibility for research design, data collection, financial information, analytical methods, research findings, references, interpretations, or conclusions from human authors to technological systems.

All authors must critically review, verify, and approve the final manuscript before submission.

1.3 Originality

All manuscripts submitted to Bima Journal must represent original scholarly contributions made by their human authors.

AI-assisted content must not reproduce, misappropriate, or obscure the intellectual contributions of other researchers, nor may it be used to conceal plagiarism, inappropriate paraphrasing, or unattributed use of copyrighted materials.

Authors must ensure that all references, quotations, theories, financial data, and other scholarly sources are accurately represented and appropriately acknowledged.

1.4 Scientific Integrity

AI must not be used to fabricate, falsify, manipulate, or misrepresent research data, survey responses, interview transcripts, financial statements, statistical analyses, audit findings, visual materials, or scientific conclusions.

All reported findings must be supported by authentic research evidence, appropriate analytical procedures, and verifiable sources.

Authors must ensure that the use of AI does not introduce misleading interpretations, methodological inconsistencies, statistical inaccuracies, or unsupported conclusions.

1.5 Authorship

AI systems, chatbots, large language models, and other AI-assisted technologies cannot be recognised as authors or co-authors of manuscripts submitted to Bima Journal.

Authorship is restricted to individuals who have made substantive intellectual contributions to the research and are capable of accepting responsibility for the accuracy, integrity, and final publication of the work.

AI tools must not be listed as authors or corresponding authors in the manuscript or in the journal's Open Journal Systems (OJS) submission metadata.

2. Permitted Uses of GenAI

Subject to appropriate disclosure, human oversight, independent verification, and compliance with research ethics, Bima Journal permits AI assistance for the following purposes.

2.1 Language Editing and Proofreading

AI tools may be used to improve spelling, grammar, sentence structure, academic language, clarity, readability, and terminological consistency.

Such assistance must not alter the intended scientific meaning, theoretical arguments, empirical findings, or research conclusions.

2.2 Translation

AI-assisted technologies may support the translation of manuscripts between languages.

Authors must independently verify the accuracy of translated content, particularly technical terminology related to accounting standards, financial reporting, management theories, research methodologies, and business regulations.

2.3 Manuscript Organisation

AI may assist authors in developing manuscript outlines, organising sections, refining the logical flow of arguments, and improving the presentation of research ideas.

However, the formulation of research questions, theoretical frameworks, hypotheses, research objectives, and scholarly contributions must remain under the intellectual control of the human authors.

2.4 Drafting Assistance

AI tools may support preliminary drafting or linguistic refinement of selected manuscript sections, such as the Introduction, Literature Review, and Discussion.

All AI-assisted content must be critically reviewed, substantially evaluated, and verified against reliable academic sources and the actual research findings.

The journal does not permit the submission of manuscripts generated entirely by AI without substantive human intellectual involvement and independent verification.

2.5 Literature Organisation and Summarisation

AI may assist in identifying relevant research themes, organising published studies, generating preliminary literature summaries, and supporting the development of conceptual discussions.

Authors must independently consult the original publications and verify the accuracy, relevance, bibliographic details, and interpretations of all cited sources.

AI-generated references or summaries must not be accepted without verification.

2.6 Data Analysis and Programming Assistance

AI may assist with statistical programming, coding, data cleaning, analytical workflows, and the development of reproducible research procedures.

Examples include assistance with regression analysis, Structural Equation Modelling (SEM), Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM), panel data analysis, financial modelling, and qualitative data coding.

Such use is permitted only when the underlying data are authentic, the analytical procedures are scientifically appropriate, the results are independently validated, and the methods are sufficiently documented to support reproducibility.

Where AI materially contributes to data processing, analytical procedures, or interpretation, its involvement must be disclosed in the Methods section.

2.7 Conceptual Illustrations and Data Visualisation

AI may assist in preparing conceptual frameworks, theoretical diagrams, non-empirical illustrations, and data visualisations.

All visual materials must accurately represent the underlying information and must not distort financial figures, research findings, statistical relationships, or empirical evidence.

AI-generated or AI-modified illustrations must be appropriately disclosed and labelled where relevant.

3. Prohibited Uses of GenAI

Bima Journal strictly prohibits the use of GenAI or AI-assisted technologies to:

  1. Fabricate, falsify, or manipulate research data, financial information, business records, observations, or empirical findings.

  2. Generate fictitious survey responses, interview transcripts, financial statements, audit evidence, statistical findings, or other research materials.

  3. Invent references, citations, Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs), journal articles, authors, or bibliographic information.

  4. Conceal plagiarism or improperly reproduce copyrighted materials and the intellectual contributions of other researchers.

  5. Produce entire manuscripts without substantive human intellectual involvement, scholarly evaluation, and independent verification.

  6. Manipulate financial reports, accounting records, statistical outputs, tables, graphs, or visual evidence in ways that misrepresent research findings.

  7. Misrepresent research methods, theoretical frameworks, analytical procedures, empirical results, or scientific conclusions.

  8. Fabricate research ethics approvals, participant consent, interview documentation, organisational authorisations, or evidence of research activities.

  9. Disclose confidential manuscripts, unpublished research findings, personal information, proprietary business data, or protected financial information to unauthorised AI services.

  10. Conceal substantive AI involvement in the preparation, analysis, interpretation, or presentation of research findings.

These prohibitions apply throughout the manuscript preparation, submission, review, revision, and publication processes.

4. Mandatory Declaration of AI Use

Authors who use GenAI or AI-assisted technologies substantively during manuscript preparation must provide a clear and accurate declaration under the heading:

DECLARATION OF GENERATIVE AI AND AI-ASSISTED TECHNOLOGIES

The declaration must:

  1. Identify the AI tool, its provider, and the relevant version or model where applicable.

  2. Describe the specific purpose of AI use.

  3. Indicate the manuscript sections or research activities supported by AI.

  4. Explain the extent of AI involvement.

  5. Describe the verification, editing, and validation undertaken by the authors.

  6. Confirm that the authors accept full responsibility for the final manuscript.

The declaration should appear before the References section unless otherwise specified in the journal's manuscript template.

Where AI has materially contributed to research methodology, data processing, statistical analysis, financial modelling, qualitative coding, or figure generation, the relevant procedures must also be described in the Methods section.

Authors who have not used GenAI in the preparation of their manuscripts must provide an appropriate declaration confirming non-use.

4.1 Example Declaration: Use of GenAI

During the preparation of this manuscript, the authors used ChatGPT (OpenAI) to assist with language editing, grammatical refinement, and improvements in academic readability. All AI-assisted content was critically reviewed, revised, and verified by the authors. The authors take full responsibility for the accuracy, originality, integrity, and final content of the manuscript.

4.2 Example Declaration: No Use of GenAI

The authors declare that no generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) or AI-assisted content-generation technologies were used in the preparation, analysis, or writing of this manuscript.

5. Responsibilities of Editors and Reviewers

Editors and reviewers must maintain strict confidentiality regarding all unpublished manuscripts, research data, editorial communications, and peer-review reports.

They must not upload confidential manuscript content, identifiable author information, proprietary financial data, research datasets, or reviewer comments to external AI systems where confidentiality cannot be assured, unless appropriate authorisation and safeguards have been established.

AI-assisted technologies must not replace independent editorial judgement, critical scholarly evaluation, or the professional responsibilities of peer reviewers.

Any authorised use of AI during editorial assessment or peer review must comply with the journal's confidentiality requirements, data protection obligations, transparency principles, and publication ethics standards.

Editors remain responsible for editorial decisions, while reviewers remain accountable for the accuracy, independence, fairness, and quality of their assessments.

6. Originality Screening and Investigation

Bima Journal may use similarity-checking software, editorial assessment, reference verification, methodological evaluation, and other appropriate procedures to identify potential breaches of publication ethics.

Textual similarity scores do not, by themselves, constitute definitive evidence of plagiarism. Similarly, AI-detection scores must not be treated as conclusive evidence of inappropriate AI use or research misconduct.

Suspected violations must be evaluated through a fair, evidence-based editorial procedure.

Authors must be given an appropriate opportunity to clarify their use of AI, explain their research procedures, provide supporting documentation, and respond to relevant editorial concerns.

Editorial decisions must be based on verifiable evidence, the seriousness of the identified issue, and established publication ethics principles.

7. Consequences of Policy Violations

Depending on the nature, severity, and substantiated evidence of a violation, Bima Journal may take the following actions:

  1. Request clarification or additional disclosure regarding AI use.

  2. Require manuscript corrections, methodological explanations, or further verification.

  3. Temporarily suspend editorial processing while the matter is investigated.

  4. Reject manuscripts involving substantiated and serious ethical violations.

  5. Publish corrections, editorial notices, or expressions of concern when appropriate.

  6. Retract published articles where serious misconduct undermines the reliability or integrity of the scholarly record.

  7. Notify the authors' institutions, relevant research ethics committees, or other appropriate authorities when justified by the available evidence.

Any restrictions on future manuscript submissions must be proportionate, documented, and implemented through a fair editorial process.

8. Implementation through Open Journal Systems (OJS)

Bima Journal implements this policy through the following procedures:

  1. Publishing the GenAI policy within the journal's Publication Ethics and Author Guidelines.

  2. Incorporating AI disclosure requirements into the manuscript submission checklist.

  3. Including a dedicated Declaration of Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies section in the manuscript template.

  4. Reviewing AI declarations during the initial editorial screening process.

  5. Assessing AI-assisted research methods, analytical procedures, financial modelling, and data interpretation where applicable.

  6. Protecting manuscript confidentiality and research information throughout the peer-review process.

  7. Documenting relevant editorial assessments, clarifications, and decisions within the OJS workflow.

  8. Providing appropriate guidance to authors, editors, and reviewers concerning ethical AI use.

  9. Reviewing and updating the policy periodically to reflect developments in technology and scholarly publishing practices.

9. Policy Review and Updates

This policy will be periodically reviewed by the Editorial Board of Bima Journal (Business, Management and Accounting Journal) in response to developments in artificial intelligence technologies, scholarly publishing standards, research ethics, data protection requirements, and internationally recognised publication ethics guidelines.

Any amendments to this policy will be communicated transparently through the journal's official website.