Association of Economists and Managers of the Balkans (UdEkoM Balkans)

Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) Policy

(Effective from January 1, 2026)

 

1. Purpose and Scope

 

This policy defines the principles governing the responsible, ethical, and transparent use of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) and AI-assisted technologies across all publications of UdEkoM Balkans, including:

• scientific journals,
• conference proceedings,
• monographs and edited volumes,
• books and other content.

The policy applies to authors, editors, reviewers, and contributors involved in all stages of scholarly communication and publishing.

This policy aligns with international standards and recommendations issued by the STM Association, Elsevier, and WAME, and supports research integrity, transparency, and trust in academic publishing.

 

2. General Principles

 

Generative AI tools may be used only as supportive instruments and must never replace human intellectual contribution, scholarly judgment, or accountability.

Accordingly:

• Only humans may be listed as authors.
• Human authors retain full responsibility for all submitted content.
• AI tools must be used with human oversight and critical evaluation.
• Transparency regarding AI use is mandatory where applicable.

 

3. Permitted Uses of Generative AI

 

Authors may use GenAI tools for limited and supportive purposes, including:

• language editing, grammar correction, and readability improvement;
• structural organization and formatting of text;
• translation of an author’s original text into another language;
• assistance in identifying potentially relevant literature, subject to independent verification.

Basic checks of grammar, spelling, and punctuation do not require disclosure.

AI tools must not be relied upon as authoritative sources of references. All citations generated or suggested by AI tools must be independently verified by the authors.

All AI-assisted outputs must be carefully reviewed, verified, and edited by the author to ensure accuracy, originality, and scholarly quality.

 

4. Responsible Use, Privacy, Intellectual Property, and Data Protection

 

Authors must carefully review the terms and conditions of any AI tool they use and ensure that:

• the privacy and confidentiality of all data and inputs are protected, including unpublished and published manuscripts;
• personally identifiable data or sensitive information is not uploaded unless full compliance with applicable data protection regulations is ensured;
• the AI tool is granted only restricted rights to use submitted materials solely to provide a service to the user;
• the AI tool is not granted rights to store, reuse, or train models on the author’s materials;
• the AI tool does not impose limitations or constraints that could restrict the subsequent publication, dissemination, or reuse of AI-assisted outputs in UdEkoM Balkans publications.

The generation of images, audio, or other content that duplicates or refers to copyrighted works, real individuals, identifiable products or brands, or an individual’s voice is not permitted.

Authors must critically evaluate all AI-generated outputs for factual accuracy, potential bias, misrepresentation, incompleteness, and fabricated references.

 

5. Prohibited Uses of Generative AI, Including Images and Visual Materials

 

The following practices are strictly prohibited in UdEkoM Balkans publications:

5.1 General Prohibitions

• listing AI tools as authors or co-authors;
• presenting AI-generated text, data, images, or results as original human research;
• fabricating data, analyses, or references using AI;
• uploading confidential, proprietary, or third-party content into AI tools without authorization.

5.2 Images, Figures, and Visual Materials

UdEkoM Balkans does not permit the use of generative AI or AI-assisted tools to create or alter images, figures, or visual materials in submitted manuscripts.

This prohibition includes, but is not limited to:

• enhancing, retouching, obscuring, or removing elements within an image or figure;
• moving or introducing specific features not present in the original material;
• generating synthetic images presented as empirical or illustrative research outputs.

Only minor technical adjustments are permitted, provided they do not distort or misrepresent the original information, including:

• brightness,
• contrast,
• color balance.

Such adjustments must not obscure, eliminate, or alter any information contained in the original image or dataset.

To ensure compliance, image forensics tools and specialized software may be applied during editorial evaluation to identify suspected image manipulation or AI-generated alterations.

5.3 Exception: AI Use as Part of the Research Methodology

The only exception applies when the use of generative AI or AI-assisted tools is an explicit and integral part of the research design or research methodology, such as:

• AI-assisted imaging approaches;
• AI-based image generation or interpretation used as research data;
• domain-specific applications (e.g., biomedical imaging, computer vision research).

In such cases, authors must provide full and reproducible disclosure in the Methods section, including:

• a detailed explanation of how AI or AI-assisted tools were used in image creation, processing, or interpretation;
• the name of the AI model or software, including version number, extensions (if applicable), and manufacturer;
• confirmation of compliance with the AI software’s usage policies;
• appropriate content attribution.

Where required for editorial assessment, authors may be asked to provide:

• pre-AI-adjusted versions of images;
• original raw or composite data used to generate the final figures.

Failure to provide such materials may result in rejection or further editorial action.

5.4 Artwork, Covers, and Graphical Abstracts

The use of generative AI or AI-assisted tools to create or modify:

• artwork,
• book or proceedings covers,
• graphical abstracts,
• decorative or illustrative visual elements

Is not permitted in UdEkoM Balkans publications.

 

6. Mandatory Disclosure of Generative AI Use

 

Authors must disclose the use of GenAI tools for manuscript preparation in a separate AI declaration statement upon submission.

Disclosure requirements:

• The statement must be placed at the end of the manuscript, immediately above the references.
• The title must be:
  “Declaration of Generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process.”
• The declaration will appear in the published work.

The statement must specify:

• the name of the AI tool used;
• the purpose of its use;
• the extent of human oversight.

Basic checks of grammar, spelling, and punctuation do not require a declaration.

If AI tools are used as part of the research process, this use must be declared and described in detail in the Methods section, where relevant and in a reproducible manner.

 

7. Authorship and Accountability

 

Authorship is limited exclusively to human contributors who meet established authorship criteria.

All listed authors are jointly responsible for:

• the accuracy, originality, and integrity of the content;
• appropriate attribution and citation of sources;
• compliance with ethical, legal, and intellectual property standards.

Authors remain fully responsible for ensuring that AI-assisted content does not constitute plagiarism, self-plagiarism, fabrication, or falsification. AI-generated text that reproduces existing sources without proper attribution will be treated as academic misconduct.

The use of AI tools does not diminish or transfer author responsibility.

 

8. Use of AI by Editors and Reviewers

 

Editors and reviewers must not upload submitted manuscripts or confidential materials into AI tools.

Any use of AI tools in editorial evaluation, peer review, or correspondence must be disclosed.

Editors and reviewers remain fully responsible for any AI-assisted content they generate. The confidentiality of the peer-review process must be strictly preserved.

 

9. Monitoring, Compliance, and Editorial Action

 

Failure to disclose the use of Generative AI or AI-assisted tools, or misuse of such tools in violation of this policy, may result in rejection of the manuscript, withdrawal from the review process, post-publication correction, or retraction, in accordance with UdEkoM Balkans publishing ethics.

Authors may be requested to provide additional information regarding their use of AI tools, including prompts or workflow descriptions, for the purpose of editorial assessment or research integrity review.

UdEkoM Balkans reserves the right to:

• apply AI-detection and content-integrity tools;
• request additional clarifications or disclosures;
• reject, correct, or retract submissions that violate this policy.

Non-compliance may result in editorial sanctions in accordance with publishing ethics.

 

10. Policy Review

 

Given the rapid evolution of generative AI technologies, this policy will be periodically reviewed and updated to reflect international best practices, regulatory developments, and publishing standards.