NEU recognizes that generative artificial intelligence (AI), large language models, and other AI-assisted technologies may support certain aspects of research and manuscript preparation. Their use must, however, be transparent, responsible, and consistent with the principles of research integrity, confidentiality, data protection, reproducibility, and human accountability.

Authorship

Artificial intelligence tools, language models, chatbots, and other AI-assisted technologies cannot be listed as authors or co-authors. Authorship requires human responsibilities that cannot be assigned to an AI system, including approval of the final version of the manuscript, accountability for the integrity and accuracy of the work, management of conflicts of interest, and response to questions concerning the validity of the research.

Use by Authors

Authors remain fully responsible for the originality, accuracy, integrity, reliability, and scientific validity of all submitted content, including any material generated, analysed, translated, revised, or otherwise supported by AI technologies.

Generative AI must not be used to fabricate, falsify, alter, or misrepresent data, results, citations, images, figures, ethical approvals, participant information, statistical findings, or any other element of the scientific record.

Authors must independently verify all factual statements, references, analyses, interpretations, and outputs generated or supported by AI tools. AI-generated references must not be included unless their existence, accuracy, and relevance have been independently verified by the authors.

The use of AI-assisted technologies does not reduce or transfer the authors' responsibility for compliance with applicable ethical, methodological, and reporting standards.

Disclosure

The use of generative AI or AI-assisted technologies to generate, substantially revise, translate, analyse, interpret, or otherwise contribute to intellectual or scientific content must be disclosed at the time of submission and appropriately described in the manuscript.

The disclosure should identify:

• the name and version of the tool or model;
• the purpose for which it was used;
• the parts of the manuscript, data analysis, or research process affected by its use;
• the steps taken by the authors to review, validate, and verify the resulting output.

A suitable statement is:

“During the preparation of this manuscript, the authors used [name and version of tool] for [purpose]. The authors independently reviewed and verified all generated, analysed, or modified content and accept full responsibility for the integrity and final version of the manuscript.”

The use of basic spelling, grammar, reference-management, or formatting tools that do not generate or substantially modify intellectual or scientific content does not normally require disclosure.

Images, Neuroimaging, Figures, Data, and Analysis

The use of generative AI to create, reconstruct, enhance, or modify scientific images, neuroimaging data, diagnostic images, microscopy images, electrophysiological recordings, datasets, or research results is not permitted when such use could misrepresent the original data or affect their scientific interpretation.

AI-assisted processing must not obscure, remove, introduce, reconstruct, or alter scientifically relevant information. This principle applies particularly to neuroimaging, microscopy, histological images, EEG, EMG, electrophysiological recordings, signal processing, and other forms of biomedical or neuroscientific data.

Where AI-assisted image or signal processing forms a legitimate part of the research methodology, its use must be transparently described in the Methods section and, where appropriate, in the relevant figure legend or supplementary material.

When artificial intelligence, machine-learning, deep-learning, or other computational models form part of the research methodology, authors must provide sufficient methodological detail to allow appropriate scientific evaluation and, where reasonably possible, reproducibility. This should include the tool or model used, version, architecture where relevant, parameters, training and validation procedures, input data, preprocessing methods, performance metrics, validation procedures, and relevant methodological limitations.

Where custom algorithms, code, trained models, or datasets are essential to understanding or reproducing the reported findings, authors are encouraged to make them available through an appropriate repository whenever ethical, legal, contractual, and data-protection requirements permit.

Confidentiality, Personal Data, and Sensitive Research Information

Authors must not upload confidential research information, identifiable or potentially re-identifiable participant data, clinical records, medical images, unpublished third-party material, proprietary datasets, or content subject to confidentiality or intellectual-property restrictions into public or external AI systems unless appropriate safeguards, permissions, ethical approvals, and data-protection arrangements are in place.

Particular care must be taken with clinical, neurological, genetic, imaging, biometric, and other sensitive health-related data. The use of an AI system must not compromise participant confidentiality, informed consent, institutional requirements, or applicable data-protection legislation.

Use by Reviewers and Editors

Manuscripts submitted to NEU are confidential documents. Reviewers and editors must not upload manuscripts, supplementary files, figures, datasets, peer-review reports, editorial correspondence, or unpublished information into public or external generative AI systems where confidentiality, data protection, or intellectual-property rights cannot be guaranteed.

Reviewers must not use generative AI to generate, draft, rewrite, or substantively produce their peer-review reports. Review reports must represent the reviewer's own critical assessment, expertise, reasoning, and intellectual work.

AI-assisted tools may not substitute for the reviewer's responsibility to independently evaluate the scientific quality, methodology, originality, ethical integrity, and relevance of a manuscript.

Editors must not use generative AI to make editorial decisions or to replace independent editorial judgment. Responsibility and accountability for all editorial decisions remain exclusively with the human editor.

AI Detection Tools

NEU does not consider the output of automated AI-detection systems, on its own, sufficient evidence of inappropriate or undisclosed use of artificial intelligence. Any concerns regarding possible misuse of AI will be evaluated in context and, where necessary, through editorial assessment and communication with the authors.

Investigation of Undisclosed or Inappropriate Use

Suspected undisclosed, misleading, unethical, or inappropriate use of AI-assisted technologies will be evaluated in accordance with the journal's Research Misconduct Policy and relevant COPE principles.

Depending on the nature and severity of the issue, NEU may request clarification, methodological details, original data, unprocessed images, source files, analysis outputs, or other supporting documentation. The journal may reject the manuscript, request correction, publish a correction or expression of concern, retract a published article, or notify the authors' institutions or other relevant bodies when appropriate.

Policy last updated: August 12, 2026