Journal of Singing - Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies Policy

(revised January 22, 2026)

Prepared by Ian Howell and Theodora Nestorova and approved by the Journal of Singing editorial board.

This summary references full policy sections as indicated. The full policy supersedes this summary.

A. Introduction

This policy covers the use of generative AI and AI-assisted technologies (Section 1.1) in preparing Journal of Singing (JOS) submissions, and in peer review and editorial evaluation (Section 4). Recognizing AI’s complex and shifting social, environmental, and technological influence in our culture, JOS does not aim to discourage or police authors’ use of AI, and it does not want authors to try to hide such use. Rather, it seeks to foster ethical, rigorous, and fully disclosed implementation of such tools if used. Because automated AI-detection methods are imperfect and can misclassify legitimate writing, JOS will not use such tools to identify undisclosed AI use. If concerns arise, the journal will request clarification about the author’s process. When in doubt, disclose use. Disclosure alone will never be cause for manuscript rejection.

Authors must complete the JOS Author AI Use Checklist at submission. This checklist does not need to be formally submitted, but should be made available upon request by the editor in chief during peer review and, if accepted, final editing and production. For details on any one aspect of this policy consult the relevant section of the full policy.

Post-publication violations will follow the COPE guidelines (Section 6). Policy will be reviewed annually (Section 7)

B. Core Principles (Section 1)

Authors must originate the manuscript’s central claims, generate initial drafts, and develop the argumentative structure through their own intellectual labor. Authors are fully accountable for the content and accuracy of any submitted manuscript. AI may never be an author, co-author, or relied on as a subject matter expert. AI output may not be cited directly as a source. Authors must protect confidential or third-party owned data.

C. Categories of AI Use (Section 2)

Basic disclosure test: Did the use of AI change the strength, scope, causality, certainty, rhetorical character, or emphasis of a passage?

C. Data Privacy (Section 2)

Before uploading any content to AI, verify your tool’s policy on: training opt-out, data retention and deletion, human review access, and third-party rights compliance. If you cannot verify these controls, do not upload full drafts or sensitive materials.

D. Code and Computational Workflows (Section 3)

AI-assisted code for analysis, figures, or results is permitted if you: validate your code, perform reasonableness checks, document your use, and retain your scripts.

E. Peer Review (Section 4)

Reviewers/editors may not upload any manuscript content, reviewer reports, or correspondence into AI tools.

F. How to disclose (Section 5)

Upload a Word or PDF document  entitled: “Declaration of Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies in the Manuscript Preparation Process.” Include tool name, version, additional modules or settings, purpose, and attest that you originated all prose and verified all content.

G. Examples