AI Accountability and Transparency Policy for Authors
The American Journal of Political Science acknowledges the increasing use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools in research and writing. This policy explains how authors must detail that use in an accountable and transparent way. Authors must also comply with Wiley’s AI guidelines for researchers.
Authorship and AI Oversight
Authors may use AI Technology only as a companion to all their work, including the writing process: they must retain responsibility for and oversight of all content, and must not use AI as a replacement for their own judgment. This policy means that authors must take full responsibility for the accuracy of all content, and verify that all claims, citations, references, and analyses are aligned with their expertise and research. Before including AI-generated content in their material, authors must carefully review it to ensure the final work reflects their expertise, voice, and originality while adhering to Wiley’s ethical and editorial standards.
It is the responsibility of the authors to ensure the accuracy and validity of any element produced or informed by AI, including the accuracy of citations, direct quotes, statistical claims, and factual assertions. Authors remain fully accountable for the content of their manuscripts
AI tools do not meet the accountability requirements of authorship. Generative AI tools such as large language models must not be listed as authors on any submitted manuscript.
Credit and citation
All use of AI-generated content must comply with the journal’s expectations regarding plagiarism, citation (including avoiding non-existent citations), and acknowledgment. Authors must not present ideas, words, data, or other material originally produced by third parties without appropriate acknowledgment, citation, and/or permission.
What to declare
Authors must declare any use of AI tools that shaped the research or the manuscript. This includes, but is not limited to: generating or editing text, generating images or figures, collecting or managing data, generating or editing code, processing or analyzing data, and informing research design. This disclosure policy exists to ensure transparency. Declaration takes the form of a single consolidated statement in a manuscript footnote that mirrors the Author Questionnaire statement submitted in Editorial Manager.
In describing these uses, authors should distinguish between:
- Uses that directly shaped the research or manuscript content – for example, collecting data, generating analysis code, or producing text that appears in the manuscript. If AI is used more extensively it could be helpful to provide fuller and more specific description of AI use in supplemental materials.
- Uses that supported the writing process – for example, proofreading, formatting, citation verification, or revising individual passages.
Minimal, non-generative uses do not require declaration. Examples include basic spelling or grammatical correction and minor formatting tasks. This exemption does not extend to any use that involves data, analysis, or substantive content, however minor.
Accountability for all AI use, including exempt uses, rests with the author, and authors should check their manuscript carefully for unintended consequences. When in doubt, authors should err on the side of disclosing use.
How to declare
Each disclosure must identify the name of every AI tool used and, where the provider is not evident from the name, the provider.
What authors should report depends on how the tool was used. For uses that directly shaped the research or manuscript content, authors should report the specific task or tasks and the degree of human oversight – whether AI-generated content was reviewed, edited, or approved before incorporation. When available, authors should also report the version of each tool (for example, “Claude Opus 4”) and the approximate dates of use. For uses that supported the writing process, authors should disclose the tool used and the general nature of the task.
Authors are responsible for verifying any third-party text, data, or other material that enters the manuscript through AI output and for citing it at the point of incorporation, consistent with the journal’s standard attribution requirements. Authors are not expected to reconstruct or enumerate the sources underlying a tool’s output; Matters related to verification and attribution are handled under the journal’s existing plagiarism and attribution policy.
Failure to disclose AI use as required by this policy is itself grounds for decline.
AI Policy for Reviewers
Per Wiley policy, manuscripts under review are confidential and must not be uploaded to AI Technologies, whether in full or in part. Reviewers are permitted to use AI to organize thoughts and prioritize feedback, improve review clarity and tone, translate their review, ask AI general questions about research methods or statistical approaches without referencing manuscript specifics. Reviewers must disclose when AI is used for drafting assistance with review. Reviewers are recommended to share: AI technology used, AI technology’s role in drafting or editing assistance, and the reviewer’s role in directing or reviewing the work of the AI technology.
Updated August 11, 2026