APA Journals policy on generative AI

Generative artificial intelligence, specifically the kind based on Large Language Models (LLMs) like ChatGPT, has become a transformative force in many fields. Scholarly writing and publishing are no different, and generative AI has begun to have an impact on scholarly work.

In response to this impact, the APA Publications and Communications Board has approved policies regarding the use of generative AI in scholarly materials. These policies (as well as APA policies on other potential issues in scholarly publishing, and additional reading on the subject) can be found on the APA Publishing Policies page and will continue to develop as we gain a better understanding of the effects of generative AI on scholarly publishing.

APA’s current policies on generative AI are:

• When a generative AI model is used in the drafting of a manuscript for an APA publication, the use of AI must be disclosed in the methods section and cited.
• AI cannot be named as an author on an APA scholarly publication.

APA policy states that authors are responsible for the accuracy of any information in their article. This means that authors must verify any information and citations provided to them by an AI tool. Authors may use, but must disclose, AI tools for specific purposes such as editing.

For guidance about when and where to disclose the use of a Generative AI tool, please see the disclosure guidance section below.

Additionally, please note that when information is entered into generative AI, the organization which runs the generative AI will likely have access to this data. Authors should be aware of this possibility and how it may impact the privacy of participants in their studies, as well as how it may impact their own privacy and intellectual property. For this reason, journal editors and reviewers may not enter materials from submitted manuscripts into generative AI as it would constitute a violation of the confidentiality of the peer review process.

Guiding principles for authors and editors about what output to disclose from generative AI tools:

• Authors need to be transparent, providing the necessary information for readers to understand how generative artificial intelligence (AI) was used during the research and manuscript drafting process. Disclose the use in the most relevant place in the manuscript, most likely the Introduction or Method sections.
• Authors need to maintain ethical approaches to using generative AI, including not entering confidential material into open generative AI tools, for example, research data or client notes that may make a participant/client identifiable.
• Authors need to take responsibility for the information provided by generative AI tools, including verifying the information received via generative AI searches by reading original sources used in AI output.
• Authors need to provide attribution to the generative AI tool in cases where the tool was used to generate ideas, content, analysis, code, or research elements. If you would provide attribution to a human contributor, you should most likely provide attribution to a generative AI tool for a similar activity. 

Authors should consider the disclosure of AI in the context of existing resources such as the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.), the Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct, the Contributor Role Taxonomy (CRediTopens in new window), and guidance provided by the institution that approved the author’s research. For curated AI topics, consult the APA Style website and blog.

Noncomprehensive examples of these principles are provided next to aid authors and editors in thinking about what needs to be disclosed when using generative AI. Some examples recommend that authors preserve the output of generative AI in their private records in case it is requested during peer review or after publication. Researchers should document for their own records the prompts used with AI tools. To the extent that it helps readers, these prompts can be included where the AI use is disclosed, or elsewhere as appropriate, such as an appendix.

Guidance on what to disclose and where in manuscripts or coursework*

 *Authors should consider this as guidance only and defer to the requirements of the journal editor as relevant.