KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Wiley embraces a future-looking AI policy with guidelines on responsible and ethical use, with human oversight, to ensure the integrity of publications.
• The guidelines also provide tips on how AI can be used, effective prompt engineering, and choosing the best AI tools for the project.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming more widely adopted within scientific publishing, yet many authors remain unsure how to use it effectively while maintaining the integrity of their research. Highlighted by an article in Research Information, Wiley have released AI guidelines for book authors in response to findings that ~70% of researchers want publisher guidance on using AI.

The guidelines include:

• Reviewing terms and conditions: authors should regularly review terms and conditions to ensure that their chosen AI technology does not claim ownership over the content or limit its use.
• Maintaining human oversight: AI should assist but not replace authors. Authors must take full responsibility for their work and review any AI-generated content before submission.
• Disclosing AI use: authors should document all AI use, including its purpose and impact on findings, and describe how AI-generated content was verified.
• Ensuring protection of rights: authors must ensure that the AI used (or its provider) does not gain rights over the authors’ material, including for the purposes of training the AI.
• Using AI responsibly and ethically: authors must comply with data protection laws, avoid using AI to copy the style or voice of others, fact-check the accuracy of AI-generated content, and be mindful of potential biases.

The guidance also provides recommendations on how to write prompts and select AI tools, as well as suggestions on use cases for authors newer to AI:

• analysing research and recognising themes across sources
• exploring ways to simplify complicated topics
• adapting work so it is relatable for different audiences
• polishing work by refining language and checking for consistency.

The guidelines complement Wiley’s existing generative AI framework for journal publications. As stated by Jay Flynn (Wiley EVP & General Manager, Research & Learning), “writers and researchers are already using AI tools, whether publishers like it or not. At Wiley, we’d rather embrace this shift than fight it”.

“Writers and researchers are already using AI tools, whether publishers like it or not. At Wiley, we’d rather embrace this shift than fight it”
– Jay Flynn, Wiley EVP & General Manager, Research & Learning

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