AI Use and Disclosure

Generative AI and automated tools cannot be authors, reviewers or accountable contributors. Authors remain responsible for every claim, citation, analysis, table, figure and line of code.

Material use of generative AI in drafting, translation, coding, analysis or image preparation must be described, including the tool and purpose. Routine spelling, reference-management and established bioinformatics software need not be reported as generative AI.

Editors and reviewers must not upload confidential manuscripts to an external AI service. Fabricated references, undisclosed synthetic data and misleading AI-generated images are unacceptable.