AI Policy

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy

Policy Alignment and Scope

Biblio Couns: Jurnal Kajian Konseling dan Pendidikan is committed to upholding the highest standards of publication ethics, transparency, academic integrity, and responsible research practices in scholarly publishing.

This policy governs the responsible use of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) and AI-assisted technologies throughout the publication process, including manuscript preparation, research activities, peer review, and editorial decision-making. Given the journal's focus on counseling and education, particular attention must be paid to research ethics, participant confidentiality, personal data protection, and the integrity of findings involving students, teachers, counselors, clients, and other research participants.

AI tools may be used only as supportive instruments and must not replace human intellectual contribution, critical thinking, professional judgment, or ethical responsibility. Authors, reviewers, and editors remain fully accountable for the accuracy, originality, confidentiality, and integrity of all scholarly work and publication-related decisions.

1. Principle of Human Accountability

Biblio Couns affirms that all scholarly work must reflect meaningful human intellectual contribution. AI tools may support specific research and publication tasks but must not substitute for:

  • Critical thinking and scholarly analysis.

  • Appropriate research design and methodological rigor.

  • Interpretation of research findings and formulation of conclusions.

  • Professional judgment in counseling and educational contexts.

  • Ethical decision-making and the protection of research participants.

Authors bear full responsibility for the accuracy, validity, originality, and ethical integrity of their manuscripts, including all content produced or assisted by AI tools.

2. Acceptable Use of AI by Authors

Authors may use AI tools for legitimate supportive purposes, including:

  • Improving grammar, spelling, language quality, clarity, and readability.

  • Assisting with manuscript organization and structural refinement.

  • Supporting preliminary literature exploration and idea development, provided that all information and sources are independently verified.

  • Assisting with translation, provided that the translated content is carefully reviewed by the authors.

  • Supporting technical tasks, such as formatting references, subject to verification against the original sources.

AI tools must not be used to fabricate or manipulate research data, generate false references, misrepresent research procedures, or produce unverified findings and conclusions.

AI-generated interpretations must not be accepted without critical human evaluation. Authors must ensure that the use of AI does not introduce inaccurate information, unsupported claims, bias, or misrepresentations of counseling and educational theories, practices, or evidence.

When AI is used in research procedures, data processing, qualitative or quantitative analysis, or the development of research instruments, its role must be clearly justified, methodologically appropriate, and subject to human verification.

3. Mandatory AI Disclosure for Transparency

Biblio Couns requires authors to disclose the use of generative AI and AI-assisted technologies when these tools contribute substantively to manuscript preparation or research activities. Routine spelling, grammar, and basic formatting checks do not require disclosure.

An “AI Use Disclosure Statement” must be included in the manuscript before the References section whenever disclosure is required. The statement must specify:

  • The name of the AI tool and its version, where available.

  • The purpose for which the tool was used.

  • The extent or nature of its contribution.

  • Confirmation that the output was critically reviewed and verified by the authors.

Recommended format:

“The authors used [AI tool name and version] for [specific purpose]. The outputs were critically reviewed, verified, and revised by the authors. The authors take full responsibility for the accuracy, originality, and integrity of the content of this manuscript.”

If no generative AI or AI-assisted technology requiring disclosure was used, authors may include the following statement:

“The authors declare that no generative AI or AI-assisted technologies were used in the preparation of this manuscript.”

When AI is an integral component of the research design or methodology, its use must also be described in the relevant section of the manuscript, including the tool, version, procedures, parameters where applicable, and human verification measures necessary to support transparency and reproducibility.

4. Data Governance, Privacy, and Intellectual Property

Authors must ensure that the use of AI tools complies with applicable research ethics, data protection requirements, confidentiality obligations, and intellectual property rights.

Particular care is required for studies involving counseling services, psychological assessments, student records, case studies, interviews, observations, and other information that may identify research participants.

Authors must not upload identifiable personal information, confidential counseling records, sensitive psychological data, unpublished research data, or other protected materials to external AI systems unless such use is appropriately authorized, ethically justified, and compliant with applicable privacy and data protection requirements.

Authors are responsible for reviewing the terms and data-handling practices of AI tools to prevent unauthorized storage, disclosure, reuse, or processing of confidential information.

The use of AI must not compromise informed consent, participant anonymity, confidentiality, or the ethical obligations of researchers and counseling professionals.

5. AI Use in Visual Materials and Research Outputs

Biblio Couns requires transparency and research integrity in the preparation of figures, images, tables, diagrams, illustrations, and other visual research materials.

Generative AI must not be used to fabricate, falsify, or deceptively manipulate research evidence, including psychological assessment results, experimental findings, photographs, interview documentation, or other materials presented as authentic research data.

AI-generated or AI-modified visual materials intended to represent research findings, theoretical models, counseling processes, educational interventions, or empirical evidence must be disclosed and appropriately identified. Such materials must not be presented as authentic observations or original empirical evidence when they are synthetic or altered.

AI tools may be used for legitimate methodological purposes, such as image analysis, transcription, coding assistance, or other research procedures, provided that their use is scientifically justified, transparently documented, and subject to appropriate human verification.

When AI is used as part of the research methodology, authors must report the relevant technical specifications and procedures. The editorial team may request original data or additional documentation when necessary to verify the integrity of the research.

6. Authorship and Contribution Ethics

AI tools cannot qualify as authors or co-authors of manuscripts published in Biblio Couns.

Authorship is restricted to individuals who have made substantial scholarly contributions, participated in drafting or critically revising the manuscript, approved the final version, and agreed to be accountable for the integrity of the work.

Authors must not use AI to misrepresent their scholarly contributions or the contributions of other individuals. AI assistance does not transfer or diminish the authors' responsibility for the manuscript.

7. AI Use in the Peer Review Process

To safeguard confidentiality, impartiality, and the integrity of peer review, reviewers must not upload submitted manuscripts, unpublished research data, reviewer reports, or confidential editorial communications to external AI systems.

Reviewers must not delegate the substantive evaluation of manuscripts to generative AI tools or use AI-generated assessments as a substitute for their independent scholarly judgment.

Peer review must be conducted by qualified human experts who assess the manuscript's originality, methodological rigor, theoretical contribution, ethical compliance, and relevance to counseling and education.

Reviewers remain fully accountable for the accuracy, fairness, confidentiality, and integrity of their assessments.

8. AI Use in Editorial Decision-Making

Editors must exercise independent professional judgment when evaluating manuscripts and making editorial decisions.

Generative AI must not replace editorial assessment, determine acceptance or rejection, or generate substantive editorial evaluations based on confidential manuscript content.

Editors must protect the confidentiality of submitted manuscripts, reviewer identities, peer review reports, and editorial correspondence. Such materials must not be entered into external AI systems unless explicitly permitted under an authorized, secure, and ethically compliant institutional or publishing workflow.

Editorial decisions must be based on scholarly merit, relevance to the journal's scope, research quality, ethical compliance, and the principles of fairness and transparency.

9. Monitoring, Compliance, and Sanctions

Biblio Couns reserves the right to:

  • Request clarification or additional information regarding the use of AI in submitted manuscripts.

  • Request supporting documentation, original data, or methodological details when necessary.

  • Conduct appropriate editorial and research integrity checks.

  • Reject manuscripts that violate this policy.

  • Initiate corrections, expressions of concern, or retractions for published articles when warranted by the nature and severity of a violation.

Suspected violations will be assessed on a case-by-case basis, taking into account the applicable publication ethics standards, the nature of the misconduct, and the authors' responses.

Failure to disclose relevant AI use, fabrication of research content, misuse of confidential information, and other forms of AI-related research misconduct may constitute violations of publication ethics.

10. Continuous Policy Development

Biblio Couns recognizes that AI technologies and their applications in counseling, education, and scholarly publishing continue to evolve. The journal will periodically review this policy to maintain alignment with recognized publication ethics standards, applicable regulations, and responsible research practices.

Any revisions will aim to strengthen transparency, protect research participants, preserve human accountability, and maintain the quality and credibility of scholarly publications in counseling and education.