PLOS AI Guidelines

Policy Summary

PLOS requires authors to clearly disclose any contributions by AI tools to a study or an article's contents in a dedicated section of the Methods, or in the Acknowledgements when the article type does not have a Methods section. The disclosure must identify the tools used, explain how outputs were validated, and specify which parts were affected. When LLM tools contribute to generating text, authors are responsible for ensuring accuracy, absence of plagiarism, and that interpretive statements reflect the authors' own ideas.

Evidence

• Contributions by artificial intelligence (AI) tools and technologies to a study or to an article's contents must be clearly reported in a dedicated section of the Methods, or in the Acknowledgements section for article types lacking a Methods section. This section should include the name(s) of any tools used, a description of how the authors used the tool(s) and evaluated the validity of the tool's outputs, and a clear statement of which aspects of the study, article contents, data, or supporting files were affected/generated by AI tool usage.

Source

• https://journals.plos.org/plosone/s/ethical-publishing-practice

Policy Summary

PLOS requires that any use of AI tools that contribute to a study or an article's contents must be disclosed in a dedicated Methods section or in the Acknowledgements. When LLM tools contribute to generating text, authors must ensure the content is accurate and valid, does not raise plagiarism concerns, includes relevant citations, and that all statements reporting hypotheses, interpretations, results, conclusions, limitations, and implications reflect the authors' own ideas.

Evidence

• Contributions by artificial intelligence (AI) tools and technologies to a study or to an article's contents must be clearly reported in a dedicated section of the Methods, or in the Acknowledgements section for article types lacking a Methods section. In cases where Large Language Model (LLM) AI tools or technologies contribute to generating text content for a PLOS submission, the article's authors are responsible for ensuring that: the content is accurate and valid, there are no concerns about potential plagiarism, all relevant sources are cited, all statements in the article reporting hypotheses, interpretations, results, conclusions, limitations, and implications of the study represent the authors' own ideas.

Source

• https://journals.plos.org/plosone/s/ethical-publishing-practice

Policy Summary

PLOS does not specifically call out AI use for translation in its author guidelines, but it permits the use of generative AI or other AI-assisted technologies to prepare a manuscript, which can include translation. If the use of AI-assisted technologies affects the manuscript’s content, authors must document that use in the Methods section and remain responsible and accountable for the manuscript’s accuracy, including ensuring appropriate citation of sources. The policy’s only explicit mention of AI for translation is in peer review, where any AI use for translation must be disclosed to authors. The policy does not specify human review requirements for this classification.

Evidence

• Generative AI or AI-assisted technologies may be used to prepare a manuscript, but this use must be documented in the Methods section if it has an impact on the manuscript content. Authors are ultimately responsible and accountable for the content of their manuscript, including for its accuracy, and must ensure that all sources are appropriately cited. Any use of AI tools in peer review (e.g. for data assessment, translation, or language editing) must be clearly disclosed to authors in the review form (reviewers) or decision letter (editors).

Source

• https://journals.plos.org/plosone/s/ethical-publishing-practice#loc-artificial-intelligence-tools-and-technologies

Policy Summary

PLOS requires authors to disclose contributions from AI tools when they contribute to a study or to an article's contents, including when AI use affects or generates aspects of the study or data. This disclosure must be made in a dedicated Methods section, or in the Acknowledgements when the article type does not include a Methods section, and must name tools used, describe how they were used, and explain how outputs were validated. PLOS states that using AI tools to fabricate or otherwise misrepresent primary research data is unacceptable.

Evidence

• Contributions by artificial intelligence (AI) tools and technologies to a study or to an article's contents must be clearly reported in a dedicated section of the Methods, or in the Acknowledgements section for article types lacking a Methods section. This section should include the name(s) of any tools used, a description of how the authors used the tool(s) and evaluated the validity of the tool's outputs, and a clear statement of which aspects of the study, article contents, data, or supporting files were affected/generated by AI tool usage. The use of AI tools and technologies to fabricate or otherwise misrepresent primary research data is unacceptable.

Source

• https://journals.plos.org/plosone/s/ethical-publishing-practice

Policy Summary

PLOS requires authors to clearly disclose contributions by AI tools when they contribute to a study or to an article's contents, including when AI use affects or generates supporting files such as illustrative figures. The disclosure must identify the tools used, describe how they were used and how outputs were evaluated, and specify which parts were affected. The policy does not restrict illustrative-only figure generation beyond this general disclosure requirement.

Evidence

• Contributions by artificial intelligence (AI) tools and technologies to a study or to an article's contents must be clearly reported in a dedicated section of the Methods, or in the Acknowledgements section for article types lacking a Methods section. This section should include the name(s) of any tools used, a description of how the authors used the tool(s) and evaluated the validity of the tool's outputs, and a clear statement of which aspects of the study, article contents, data, or supporting files were affected/generated by AI tool usage.

Source

• https://journals.plos.org/plosone/s/ethical-publishing-practice

Policy Summary

If AI tools or technologies contribute to a study or to an article’s contents, PLOS requires authors to clearly report that contribution in a dedicated section of the Methods, or in the Acknowledgements when the article type does not have a Methods section. This disclosure should include the names of the tools used, how they were used, how the authors evaluated the validity of the outputs, and which aspects of the study, article contents, data, or supporting files were affected or generated by the AI usage. PLOS prohibits using AI tools to fabricate or otherwise misrepresent primary research data. The policy does not specify human review requirements for this classification.

Evidence

• Contributions by artificial intelligence (AI) tools and technologies to a study or to an article’s contents must be clearly reported in a dedicated section of the Methods, or in the Acknowledgements section for article types lacking a Methods section. This section should include the name(s) of any tools used, a description of how the authors used the tool(s) and evaluated the validity of the tool’s outputs, and a clear statement of which aspects of the study, article contents, data, or supporting files were affected/generated by AI tool usage. The use of AI tools and technologies to fabricate or otherwise misrepresent primary research data is unacceptable.

Source

• https://journals.plos.org/plosone/s/ethical-publishing-practice#loc-artificial-intelligence-tools-and-technologies

Policy Summary

PLOS requires that any contributions by AI tools to a study or to an article's contents be clearly disclosed in a dedicated section of the Methods, or in the Acknowledgements when the article type lacks a Methods section. This includes AI use for code that contributes to the study. The disclosure must name the tools used, describe how they were used, and explain how outputs were evaluated.

Evidence

• Contributions by artificial intelligence (AI) tools and technologies to a study or to an article's contents must be clearly reported in a dedicated section of the Methods, or in the Acknowledgements section for article types lacking a Methods section. This section should include the name(s) of any tools used, a description of how the authors used the tool(s) and evaluated the validity of the tool's outputs, and a clear statement of which aspects of the study, article contents, data, or supporting files were affected/generated by AI tool usage.

Source

• https://journals.plos.org/plosone/s/ethical-publishing-practice

Policy Summary

PLOS requires authors to clearly disclose any contributions made by AI tools to a study or to an article's contents, including when LLM tools contribute to gathering references. When LLM tools contribute to generating text, authors are responsible for ensuring that all relevant sources are cited and that AI-generated text does not raise plagiarism concerns. The disclosure must identify tools used, describe how they were used, and specify which parts were affected.

Evidence

• Contributions by artificial intelligence (AI) tools and technologies to a study or to an article's contents must be clearly reported in a dedicated section of the Methods, or in the Acknowledgements section for article types lacking a Methods section. In cases where Large Language Model (LLM) AI tools or technologies contribute to generating text content for a PLOS submission, the article's authors are responsible for ensuring that: all relevant sources are cited, and that AI-generated text is not plagiarized.

Source

• https://journals.plos.org/plosone/s/ethical-publishing-practice

Policy Summary

PLOS prohibits using AI tools or technologies to fabricate or otherwise misrepresent primary research data. Any failure to comply with this AI policy will be treated as misrepresentation of methods, contributions, and/or results. If concerns arise about noncompliance, PLOS may notify the authors’ institutions, and the journal may reject the manuscript before publication, retract the article after publication, or publish an editorial notice. The policy does not specify human review requirements for this classification.

Evidence

• The use of AI tools and technologies to fabricate or otherwise misrepresent primary research data is unacceptable. Noncompliance with any aspect of this policy will be considered misrepresentation of methods, contributions, and/or results. If concerns arise about noncompliance with this policy, PLOS may notify the authors’ institution(s) and the journal may reject (pre-publication), retract (post-publication), or publish an editorial notice on the article.

Source

• https://journals.plos.org/plosone/s/ethical-publishing-practice#loc-artificial-intelligence-tools-and-technologies
• https://journals.plos.org/plosone/s/ethical-publishing-practice