AI Usage Policy

FIMH · Frontiers in Intelligent Medicine & Health

Frontiers in Intelligent Medicine & Health recognizes the growing use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools in medical research, healthcare innovation, clinical communication, and scholarly publishing. This policy outlines the acceptable use of AI technologies by authors, reviewers, and editors to ensure transparency, integrity, confidentiality, and accountability. It applies to all AI-assisted writing tools, large language models, image generators, clinical decision-support algorithms, code assistants, and data analysis tools.

1. Author Guidelines for AI Use

Authors may use AI tools to assist with writing, language editing, grammar checking, reference formatting, literature searches, coding, data analysis, or visualization. However, the following conditions apply:

• Disclosure required: Authors must declare the use of any AI tool in the manuscript's “Acknowledgements,” “Methods,” or other appropriate section, specifying the tool name, version when available, provider, and purpose of use.
• No AI authorship: AI tools cannot be listed as authors or co-authors. All listed authors must meet authorship criteria and take full responsibility for the integrity, accuracy, and originality of the submitted work.
• Accuracy and originality: Authors are responsible for verifying the accuracy, originality, reliability, and non-infringing nature of AI-generated or AI-assisted content. AI outputs may contain factual errors, fabricated references, bias, or hallucinations.
• Medical and clinical responsibility: AI-generated content must not replace professional clinical judgment. Authors must ensure that any AI-assisted medical, diagnostic, therapeutic, or public health statements are evidence-based and appropriately referenced.
• Data privacy: Authors must not input confidential, identifiable, or sensitive patient data into public or non-secure AI systems unless appropriate consent, authorization, and data protection safeguards are in place.
• Prohibited uses: AI shall not be used to fabricate or manipulate data, images, patient records, citations, peer review content, or any material intended to mislead editors, reviewers, or readers.

2. Reviewer Restrictions on AI

Reviewers are strongly discouraged from using AI tools to generate reviews or analyze confidential manuscripts. Uploading a manuscript, figures, tables, datasets, patient information, or excerpts into an AI system may violate confidentiality, copyright, and data protection obligations. If a reviewer uses AI only for minor language assistance in drafting comments, they must declare this to the editor. The core evaluation of originality, methodology, clinical relevance, ethical compliance, data interpretation, and conclusions must be performed personally by the reviewer.

3. Editorial Use of AI

Editors may use AI-supported tools for plagiarism detection, similarity screening, image integrity checks, citation verification, reporting workflow support, or technical quality assessment. However, final decisions on manuscript acceptance, revision, rejection, or retraction must always be made by qualified human editors. AI must not be used to replace editorial judgment, determine scientific merit, or automate peer review decisions without human oversight. Any use of AI in editorial processes should be transparent, proportionate, and compliant with confidentiality and privacy regulations.

4. Clinical Data and Patient Privacy

For manuscripts involving medical records, clinical cases, diagnostic images, genomic data, wearable-device data, or other health-related information, authors must ensure that AI use complies with applicable ethical approvals, informed consent requirements, data protection laws, and institutional policies. AI tools must not be used in ways that risk re-identification of patients, unauthorized data disclosure, or unsupported clinical claims.

5. Consequences of Violation

Failure to disclose AI use, inappropriate use of AI, or use of AI in a way that compromises research integrity, patient privacy, peer review confidentiality, or publication ethics may lead to manuscript rejection, correction, expression of concern, retraction, or disqualification from reviewer or editorial roles. Suspected violations will be investigated in accordance with COPE guidelines and applicable journal policies.

6. Policy Updates

This policy will be reviewed regularly as AI technologies, medical research practices, and publication ethics standards evolve. The current version is always available on this page. Authors, reviewers, and editors are expected to stay informed about updates.

Contact Us

For questions about AI usage or to report a potential violation, please contact the editorial office: