Use of Artificial Intelligence

  1. Context and Fundamental Principles
    Recent advances in large language models and Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies have transformed academic writing, analysis, and production. Given their impact on scientific integrity, transparency, intellectual property, and the potential perpetuation of algorithmic biases, Revista Médica Electrónica (RME) establishes that AI must be considered strictly as an assistance tool, never as a decision-maker or author. All policies regarding AI use will be governed by five pillars:
  • Full transparency: Mandatory disclosure of any use of AI in manuscript preparation.
  • Mandatory human oversight: All scientific, methodological, and editorial decisions remain the exclusive responsibility of researchers and editors.
  • AI as a tool, never as an author: AI tools cannot be listed as authors, co-authors, or assume legal responsibility or conflict-of-interest declarations.
  • Data protection and confidentiality: Strict guarantee of security in handling sensitive information.
  • Bias prevention: Active verification to correct potential prejudices, stereotypes, or inaccuracies derived from model training data.
  1. Boundaries Between Permitted and Prohibited Assistance
    Authors may use AI for auxiliary tasks such as improving writing style, translation, organizing outlines, exploratory data analysis, or generating technical figures. It is strictly prohibited to use AI for generating complete manuscripts, fabricating or manipulating data, altering images with deceptive intent, or substituting the scientific and methodological judgment of the researcher. Ethical, legal, and academic responsibility rests exclusively with human authors, who must ensure the accuracy, originality, and proper attribution of all content.
  2. Mandatory Declaration and Traceability
    Upon submission, authors must disclose any use of AI-assisted technologies. This declaration must be made twice and consistently:
  • In the WAME Manuscript Checklist, by selecting the corresponding box and detailing the nature of the use.
  • In the Methodology section of the manuscript, incorporating an explicit description that includes: the tool used, model version, date of use, specific purpose, and the human verification performed on the generated content.

If no AI was used, authors must obligatorily include in the Methodology section an explicit statement to that effect (e.g., "No Artificial Intelligence tools were used in the preparation of this manuscript"), ensuring this information matches exactly what was declared in the WAME checklist.

  1. Declaration Format, Citation, and Practical Examples
    AI cannot be listed as an author, co-author, or primary source of scientific evidence. However, when used as technical or linguistic support, it must be formally cited in the reference list under the software/tool category. In-text citation may be numeric (1) or narrative According to [Tool] (1).

✅ CORRECT example of declaration in Methodology:
"Qwen (Alibaba Cloud, version 2.5, accessed April 2026) was used to improve the clarity of the abstract and correct grammatical errors in the introduction. The scientific content, data, and interpretations were generated, verified, and thoroughly validated by the authors."

❌ INCORRECT example:
"AI was used to improve the manuscript." (Too vague; omits tool name, version, date, and specific purpose).

???? Example of bibliographic reference:
Alibaba Cloud. Qwen [software]. Version 2.5. [cited 2026 Apr 22]. Available from: https://chat.qwen.ai/
OpenAI. ChatGPT [software]. Version 5.2. [cited 2026 Feb 09]. Available from: https://chat.openai.com/

  1. Guidelines for Peer Reviewers and the Editorial Committee
    Reviewers must not upload unpublished manuscripts to AI platforms where confidentiality cannot be guaranteed. If they choose to use AI as support during evaluation (e.g., to verify textual coherence, regulatory compliance, identification of missing references, or detection of methodological inconsistencies), they must inform the editor about such use, specifying the tool and the type of assistance received. It is prohibited to use AI to issue the final acceptance or rejection verdict; editorial decisions must remain exclusively human. Reviewers are responsible for ensuring that any comments generated or assisted by AI are accurate, complete, and impartial.
  2. Use of AI by the Journal
    Authors are informed that, during the evaluation and editorial production process, RME may employ AI tools to support technical aspects (writing analysis, textual coherence, compliance with formal standards, and similarity detection). Such tools will be used solely for editorial purposes, under strict confidentiality, and without external access to sensitive study data. All final scientific, methodological, and editorial decisions will remain the exclusive responsibility of the Editorial Committee and designated reviewers.

Revista Médica Electrónica commits to reviewing and updating this policy as international consensus (ICMJE, WAME, COPE) evolves and as technology advances, always prioritizing scientific integrity, methodological traceability, and transparency in academic communication.