Editorial Policy on the Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

In order to uphold academic integrity, ensure methodological transparency, and maintain ethical standards in scientific publishing, the ECOCIENCIA Scientific Journal establishes the following guidelines regarding the use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools in the preparation of manuscripts:

1)Declaration of Use Any use of AI tools must be explicitly declared in the manuscript. This declaration should be included in the methodology section and must contain the following information:

• Name and software used
• Functions applied (e.g., style correction, syntactic reformulation)
• Specific sections of the manuscript where AI was applied

2)Limitations The use of AI tools is permitted solely for the purpose of supporting the writing process, such as improving language, clarity, or style. Under no circumstances may AI replace the author’s critical analysis, methodological design, or interpretation of results.

3)Author Responsibility Authors retain full responsibility for the content of the manuscript. This includes the review, verification, and correction of any content generated or assisted by AI, taking into account potential biases, inaccuracies, or errors inherent to these technologies.

4)Prohibition of Authorship Attribution AI tools must not be cited as authors or co-authors of the manuscript. They should not appear in the list of authors or in the acknowledgments as entities bearing intellectual or scientific responsibility.

5)AI-Generated Images The use of generative AI to create, manipulate, or alter scientific images (photographs, micrographs, experimental results, etc.) is not permitted.

Exception: In cases where the study’s methodology includes the use of AI for image processing, figure generation, visualizations, or graphs, such use must be described in technical detail in the methodology section, with justification of its scientific relevance.

6)Policy Updates This policy will be reviewed and updated periodically, in accordance with technological advancements and international standards on scientific publishing and editorial ethics.

7)Sanctions for Non-Compliance Failure to comply with this policy may result in editorial sanctions, including immediate rejection of the manuscript and withdrawal of the article if it has already been accepted or published.