AI in Academic Publishing: Wiley’s New Guidelines for Ethical and Responsible Use

As AI tools become increasingly integrated into the research and publishing process, leading academic publishers like Wiley are taking steps to ensure their ethical and effective use. Wiley has released a comprehensive set of AI author guidelines to help authors responsibly incorporate AI during manuscript preparation. These guidelines emphasize transparency, authorship integrity, and protection of rights in maintaining scholarly trust. For researchers using AI in writing or analysis, understanding these best practices is essential to uphold editorial standards and safeguard intellectual property.

What Authors Need to Know?

1. Review the Fine Print Before You Use Any Tool

Before using AI tools or chatbots like ChatGPT, summarizers, or code generators, Wiley urges authors to closely examine their terms and conditions. It’s not just about functionality—some tools may claim ownership over generated content or restrict how you can use it. Authors should ensure these tools don’t conflict with their ability to retain rights or transfer them to Wiley.

2. Human Oversight Remains Essential

AI can enhance productivity, but it cannot replace human judgment. Wiley makes it clear: authors must maintain full responsibility for their manuscripts. That includes fact-checking claims, verifying sources, and ensuring that the final text reflects the author’s intellectual contribution. Human oversight ensures that AI remains a supportive tool, not a surrogate for authorship.

3. Transparency Through Disclosure

Using AI in your work? Say so. Wiley now requires authors to disclose when and how AI tools were used in manuscript preparation. Whether it helped structure a paragraph, refine grammar, or summarize findings, authors must explain the purpose and confirm that all AI-generated content has been reviewed. This level of transparency helps readers understand the role AI played in the development of the research.

How to Declare AI Use When Submitting to Wiley

When submitting your final manuscript, you are required to include a complete declaration of AI use. Wiley offers two ways to meet this requirement:

• Submit an AI tracker that logs all AI interactions during manuscript preparation.
• Use a structured declaration statement.

A proper declaration should clearly specify:

• Where AI-supported content appears
• The specific AI tools and versions used
• The purpose of the tool in your workflow
• How the content was validated
• Whether the AI influenced your conclusions

A sample declaration might look like this:

“Claude 3.5 Sonnet was used in Chapter 5 to synthesize 200+ climate studies and identify trends and inconsistencies in climate model accuracy. AI-generated summaries were reviewed, validated against original sources, and cross-checked for accuracy. The influence on the conclusion was significant, as AI revealed regional discrepancies in model accuracy, leading the author to refine their thesis from ‘models overestimate warming’ to ‘model accuracy varies by region’”.

4. Protecting Rights

Authors must avoid using AI tools that could compromise the rights of all parties involved. Some AI models may use input data for further training, which could put sensitive or proprietary information at risk. Wiley’s stance is clear: authors should steer clear of tools that don’t explicitly allow content use without claiming ownership.

5. Practice Ethical and Responsible AI Use

Ethical considerations go hand in hand with technological adoption. Wiley encourages authors to use AI tools in ways that are compliant with data protection laws and privacy standards. Furthermore, authors must evaluate AI-generated content for accuracy, neutrality, and potential bias (especially in topics that involve sensitive data or social implications).

6. Stay in Line with Publishing Agreements

At the end of the day, using AI must not violate any part of the publishing agreement with Wiley. That means all work must be original, unpublished elsewhere, and fully owned by the submitting author. AI assistance doesn’t change those expectations, it simply adds another layer of responsibility to ensure the final content aligns with Wiley’s standards.

A Step Forward for Transparency and Trust in Publishing

Wiley’s AI usage guidelines mark a critical step in helping researchers adapt responsibly to a changing publishing landscape. By promoting transparency, protecting authors’ rights, and reinforcing the importance of human oversight, these best practices offer a clear framework for integrating AI into academic writing—ethically and effectively.

For those navigating the AI-enabled future of publishing, these guidelines are more than just policy, they’re a blueprint for integrity.

Ready to integrate AI into your research responsibly? Explore HigherEd+’s AI micromodules on Ethical Use of AI in Higher Education and How to Encourage Responsible AI Use in College Students.