Artificial Intelligence Policy

BHINNEKA: Intercultural Counseling Insights is a Diamond Open Access journal. All published articles are distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0). This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, adaptation, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and any derivative works are shared under the same license.

In response to the evolving use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) and AI-assisted technologies in scholarly work, this policy provides clear guidance to authors, reviewers, editors, and contributors. Our goal is to ensure the responsible, transparent, and ethical use of AI, upholding academic integrity and aligning with our Open Access and CC BY-SA 4.0 licensing principles.

FOR AUTHORS

Use of Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies

BHINNEKA acknowledges that generative AI and AI-assisted tools (“AI Tools”) can be used responsibly to aid in manuscript preparation—such as improving language clarity, assisting with formatting, or summarizing literature. However, AI Tools must not replace essential human intellectual contributions, scholarly judgment, critical analysis, or the interpretation of results. The core ideas, arguments, and conclusions must originate from and be owned by the human author(s).

Authors bear full responsibility and accountability for their submitted manuscripts and must ensure that:

  1. All AI-assisted content is meticulously reviewed, verified for accuracy and bias, and corrected by the authors.

  2. The manuscript represents the authors' original scholarly contribution.

  3. The use of AI Tools is fully transparent and disclosed upon submission.

  4. The use of AI Tools does not introduce restrictions that conflict with the CC BY-SA 4.0 license, which guarantees rights for reuse, redistribution, and adaptation.

Responsible Use of AI Tools

Authors must review the terms of service of any AI Tool to ensure that:

  • Submitted manuscript content is not retained or used to train AI models without explicit permission.

  • Data privacy, confidentiality, and intellectual property rights (of the authors and any third parties) are protected.

  • AI Tools are not used to generate content that infringes copyright, plagiarizes, misrepresents authorship, or creates deceptive imagery/text.

Disclosure of AI Use

Authors must include a Declaration of AI Use in their manuscript upon submission, typically within the Acknowledgements or a separate Methods section. This statement must specify:

  • Name and version of the AI Tool(s) used.

  • Purpose and extent of use (e.g., "Used for language polishing and grammar checking of the initial draft").

  • Confirmation that all content was ultimately reviewed, validated, and approved by the human author(s).

Note: Minor corrections for grammar, spelling, or formatting do not require disclosure. However, any use of AI in research design, data collection, analysis, or interpretation must be explicitly and transparently described in the manuscript's methods.

Authorship, Copyright, and Licensing

  • AI Tools cannot be listed as authors or co-authors. Authorship is strictly limited to individuals who meet established criteria for scholarly contribution and who can take public responsibility for the work.

  • Authors retain copyright of their work and grant BHINNEKA the right to publish it under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license. Authors must ensure AI use does not introduce third-party content that cannot be legally shared or adapted under this license.

Use of AI in Figures, Images, and Artwork

The use of generative AI tools to create or substantively alter images, figures, or artwork within the research content is generally not permitted. This includes generating diagrams, altering data visualizations, or creating illustrative figures.

  • Exception: If AI-assisted image generation or analysis is an integral part of the research methodology, it must be fully described in a reproducible manner (tool, version, parameters) in the methods section, and the outputs must be shareable under CC BY-SA 4.0.

  • Graphical Abstracts/Cover Images: The use of AI-generated artwork for these purposes is not permitted without prior, explicit editorial approval, which will only be granted if all usage rights are confirmed to be compatible with CC BY-SA 4.0.

FOR REVIEWERS

  1. Confidentiality: Manuscripts and peer review reports are strictly confidential. Reviewers must not upload any part of the manuscript, its data, or their review reports into AI Tools (e.g., ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot), as this breaches confidentiality and may violate copyright.

  2. Human Judgment: Peer review is a cornerstone of scholarly validation that relies on human expertise. Reviewers must not use generative AI to write or substantially generate their review reports. Reviewers are personally accountable for the content and judgment in their evaluations.

FOR EDITORS

  1. Confidentiality and Judgment: Editors must treat all submissions and correspondence confidentially and must not use AI Tools to process them. Editorial decisions must be based on human scholarly judgment and the recommendations of human reviewers.

  2. Policy Enforcement: If a potential violation of this AI policy is suspected, editors should investigate and report the issue to the Editor-in-Chief for a final decision.

  3. Internal AI Use: The journal may employ AI-assisted tools under strict human oversight for administrative tasks such as initial plagiarism checks, identifying potential reviewer matches based on keywords, or technical formatting checks. Final editorial and publishing decisions always rest with human editors.

USE OF AI IN THE PUBLICATION PROCESS

To enhance the efficiency and quality of our Diamond Open Access publishing process, BHINNEKA may use AI-assisted technologies under strict human oversight for:

  • Initial technical checks (formatting, reference structure).

  • Plagiarism and similarity screening.

  • Post-acceptance copyediting support for grammar and style consistency.

All critical decisions concerning acceptance, revision, and rejection remain the sole responsibility of human editors and reviewers, ensuring compliance with the CC BY-SA 4.0 license and maintaining trust in the scholarly record.