Do you allow the use of ChatGPT or other generative language models and how should this be reported?

JMIR Publications Editorial Policy on the use of generative AI during manuscript preparation

The full policy is published in this editorial on "Best Practices for Using AI Tools as an Author, Peer Reviewer, or Editor" in the Journal of Medical Internet Research. Authors are required to adhere to the policies with regards to author accountability, transparency, and maintenance of confidentiality of any content generated by AI and incorporated into a submitted manuscript for peer review and potential publication in any JMIR Publications journal.

Because of the rapidly evolving nature of AI technologies, related policies, regulation, and best practices, JMIR Publications may periodically modify this editorial policy. It is the responsibility of the authors to adhere to these principles and practices provided.

**Authors are advised to carefully read the full published editorial policy on generative AI usage to ensure their adherence to the required appropriate statements and/or supplementary materials.**

In brief, practical important author considerations with respect to generative AI usage in generating manuscript content also includes: (note this applies to any and all generative AI tools, including ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, or any other comparable tool that is not explicitly listed)

• If AI-generated text is used, it should be presented as blockquote, textbox or figure, making clear that this text comes from the generative AI tool used.
• ChatGPT, or any other generative AI, should never be listed as author [2]
• We do allow the use of generative AI in ideation, but ask for full disclosure on the extent of use of generative AI in the ideation or writing process.
• Disclosure: We recommend to do so within the methods or acknowledgements sections; we also ask to keep the complete original prompts/responses/transcripts on file and submit all ChatGPT conversations used in the preparation of the manuscript as a Multimedia Appendix so reviewers and readers can assess the extent of text used from ChatGPT. 
• Disclosure should be detailed and precise about the task(s) outsourced to generative AI during scientific work conducted and in manuscript preparation, and using which generative AI [3].
• We warn against taking statements or references from any generative AI output at face value -generative AI sometimes strings words together without understanding the meaning behind it, and we have seen it making up references that don't exist [4]. For example, if references are suggested by generative AI, authors are responsible (accountable) to check the reference and ensure its relevance to the output material, and to the manuscript. Authors must fact-check statements made and are ultimately accountable for the entirety of their submitted article. 
• The submission of manuscripts that are solely or to a large extent written by generative AI without proper disclosure constitutes academic misconduct.
• Editors or JMIR Publications staff may, at their discretion, ask authors to supply prompts/responses used, if this is determined to be necessary and relevant to the editorial/peer review process.

Resources to help with preparing disclosure

Authors may optionally use this type of tool to assist in producing an appropriately precise and complete generative AI disclosure: https://panbibliotekar.github.io/gaidet-declaration/index.html

OR

Refer to the following table for task(s) or AI activities to disclose, according to STM: [3]

References:

1. Leung T, de Azevedo Cardoso T, Mavragani A, Eysenbach G. Best Practices for Using AI Tools as an Author, Peer Reviewer, or Editor. J Med Internet Res 2023;25:e51584. https://www.jmir.org/2023/1/e51584
DOI: 10.2196/51584

2. COPE position statement on Authorship and AI

3. STM. Recommendations for a Classification of AI Use in Academic Manuscript Preparation. September 2025. https://stm-assoc.org/document/recommendations-for-a-classification-of-ai-use-in-academic-manuscript-preparation/ 

4. Eysenbach G. The Role of ChatGPT, Generative Language Models and Generative Artificial Intelligence in Medical Education: An Conversation with ChatGPT and a Call for Papers (Editorial). JMIR Med Educ 2023;9:e46885 doi: https://doi.org/10.2196/46885

(V2023-August 31, 2023 - This policy is subject to change;

Updates-October 2025 - Reference [3] and Resources to help with preparing disclosure added)

Related:

• How should the "Acknowledgments" section be formatted?
• What are the guidelines for supplementary files (figures, multimedia appendices, additional material for reviewers/editors only)? 
• Where to find and how to generate a TOC image (for the use of AI text-to-image generation tools such as DALL-E 2)