Effective January 1, 2025, CEUR-WS will adopt a new policy about using Generative AI in papers. This policy mandates that authors: i) declare the use of GenAI tools in the paper, ii) review and edit any AI-generated content, and iii) not list AI tools as authors.
I led its development, in collaboration with Fabrizio Fornari (University of Camerino) and Jelena Zdravkovic (Stockholm University), following two core principles:
- Generative AI can support the drafting of a paper but never supplant it, and should be used responsibly.
- Transparency for all the relevant parties: authors, volume editors, CEUR-WS, and especially our readers.
To facilitate authors in declaring any GenAI usage, we included a dedicated section (Declaration on Generative AI) within the templates, both LaTeX and MS Word. This declaration must contain all the GenAI-based tools or services, as well as their roles/contributions (e.g., grammar check, rephrasing and others). To standardise and make this process easier, we devised the GenAI Usage Taxonomy (available here: https://ceur-ws.org/GenAI/Taxonomy.html) listing a set of possible GenAI roles.
We believe that asking authors to declare both the adopted tools and their types of contributions, decreases the perceived stigma when getting GenAI to co-piloting the drafting of a paper. Moreover, outlining expectations encourages authors to engage with GenAI in an ethical and thoughtful manner, minimising the potential for misuse. Further, such a declaration allows volume editors to assess the extent of AI-generated content within their publications and make informed choices accordingly. Similarly, it provides CEUR-WS with valuable insights into the nature of submitted works. Finally, and certainly not the least important, this transparency allows readers to better understand the context and creation process of the research they are reading.
As GenAI is a continuously expanding field, we reserve the right to adapt the taxonomy and the types of acceptable uses.
Additional links:
- CEUR-WS Policy on AI Assisting Tools (2025-onward): https://ceur-ws.org/GenAI/Policy.html
- GenAI Usage Taxonomy: https://ceur-ws.org/GenAI/Taxonomy.html
- CEUR-WS Policy on AI Assisting Tools (2023-2024): https://ceur-ws.org/ACADEMIC-ETHICS.html
