AI Statement
Advances in Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) technology are changing how research is written, published, and accessed. At Peter Lang, we see both opportunity and responsibility in this moment of change. We support innovation, but not at the expense of scholarly integrity, authorship, or intellectual property rights, which are crucial to authors, publishers and the creative industry.
Your responsibility as author
While we recognize that AI tools1 may be useful for language checking or administrative tasks, we encourage our authors to use AI tools with care and attention and to be aware that the inputs entered and any output generated using these technologies may include material that is protected by intellectual property or other rights (e.g., privacy or data protection). Authors must be sure not to upload any protected material into any tools without permission.
Rights, Attribution and Accuracy
AI tools cannot themselves be responsible for submitted work and there are concerns about accuracy and bias. The use of AI tools has particular risks in academic publishing, due to the potential for unauthorized reuse of materials (including copyright material), brand names (including trademarks), database rights, and intellectual property and other protected rights as well as lack of attribution, contravening standard practices in academic writing.
The publisher will therefore not accept book manuscripts, chapters, journal articles or other written works that have been written or generated in part or in full by AI or an LLM-based tool. This policy does not only apply to text but applies to any medium, including images. Authors should not use AI tools to produce or augment figures, illustrations or other images for inclusion in their books or for use on the cover.
Authors are fully responsible for all work submitted to the publisher and for verifying the accuracy of all facts and citations. Authors should ensure the originality, accuracy, and scholarly integrity of their work and AI-generated outputs must not be relied upon on their own as authoritative.
Transparency
In cases where the work discusses the capabilities of AI or requires the use of AI for other reasons, any use of AI must be made transparent to the publisher and to the reader through accurate citation. In any event, authors should keep a copy of the terms and conditions of any generative AI tool used, in case this needs to be referred to at a later time. As terms and conditions may change, authors should check regularly for updates. Guidelines for citing generative AI in APA, MLA and Chicago styles are available. Any permitted use of these tools must be accurately and clearly disclosed to the publisher at the point of submission of a proposal or manuscript. As an author, you may be obliged to replace AI-generated material with human-generated content should we require it.
Submissions may be refused or returned for amendment if they do not comply with this policy.
Your responsibility as peer reviewer
Peer review is an essential part of the academic publishing process and relies on rigorous scholarly judgment, evaluative expertise, and human interaction and judgment that AI cannot replicate. Documents you receive for peer review must not be uploaded to an AI tool as this would violate the intellectual property and/or other protected rights of the author(s). We require that you do not use generative AI to review, summarise, create, write, or edit your report or upload any draft or manuscript in whole or in part into an AI system.
Our responsibility as publisher
Peter Lang is dedicated to providing high-quality publishing services to academic institutions and scholars, with a long-standing commitment to the global dissemination of academic research. Enabling the discovery, exchange, and critical examination of scholarly work – and thereby fostering informed debates that shape our society – is at the core of our mission.
As the ways in which academic content is accessed, analysed, and reused continue to evolve, publishers have a responsibility to engage thoughtfully with emerging technologies. In particular, the increasing use of AI tools in every aspect of our lives, in research and education highlights the importance of ensuring that such tools are built upon reliable, peer-reviewed, and ethically sourced academic content.
In navigating a changing publishing environment, we seek to act in the interests of the wider academic community. With the intention that tools scholars aim to use will be grounded in rigorous scholarship rather than unverified or unreliable sources, Peter Lang will consider collaborations with selected partners that we assess to be sustainable and support the long-term value of academic research. This includes safeguarding intellectual property rights and considering partnerships that are sustainable over the long term.
Peter Lang will continue to review and refine its approach as legal frameworks, technological capabilities, and academic norms evolve.