AI Policy

AuthZ may use AI tools during research organization, drafting, editing, coding, and production. These tools are assistants, not authors or accountable editors.

Human responsibility

A human editor remains responsible for the argument, wording, originality, source verification, rights, and decision to publish. An AI-generated citation is never accepted as evidence that a source exists. Quotations and bibliographic details must be checked against the source itself.

Disclosure

An article materially assisted by AI carries a consistent editorial disclosure. Routine spelling, grammar, transcription, search, or formatting tools do not normally require individual disclosure unless their contribution affects the substance of the work.

What AuthZ will not do

AuthZ will not use a fictional AI persona as the source of editorial authority. We will not present generated synthesis as original reporting, fabricate expertise, or conceal material automation behind a human byline.

Privacy and confidential material

AuthZ does not authorize staff or contributors to enter confidential-source material, privileged communications, highly sensitive personal information, or unpublished high-risk allegations into a third-party AI system unless that particular use has received documented editorial and privacy approval.

Approval requires a defined editorial purpose and a review of the provider’s training and retention practices, human access, subprocessors, processing locations, security controls, deletion options, and contractual terms. Permission from a manuscript author or correspondent does not by itself resolve another person’s privacy, confidentiality, privilege, or data-protection rights.

AI and evidentiary material

AI output is not evidence. Material quotations, translations, transcriptions, image interpretations, summaries, and factual reconstructions must be checked against the underlying source by a human editor. AuthZ preserves the source needed to support the published statement and records any consequential AI transformation.

An AI-generated or AI-transformed quotation, image, recording, translation, or factual reconstruction that could affect an identifiable person’s reputation, privacy, rights, or safety creates a mandatory publication hold. Publication may proceed only after human verification and the editorial or legal review required by our Editorial Policy.