Surabaya, November 26, 2025 – The advent of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies such as ChatGPT has drastically changed the academic landscape. In response to this phenomenon, the Library of the Institute of Technology Sepuluh Nopember (ITS) collaborated with Emerald Publishing to host a webinar titled “Being Smart and Ethical with AI: A Practical Guide for Researchers and Writers” on Wednesday (November 26).

This online event featured William Loh Wui Lun, Customer Success Partner at Emerald Publishing (East Asia), as the keynote speaker. The webinar aimed to provide practical guidance for ITS academics on how to use AI effectively without violating academic integrity principles.

The Importance of Research Integrity in the Age of AI

In his presentation, William emphasized that even though technology is developing rapidly, the basic principles of research integrity must not be compromised. Research integrity includes honesty in data reporting, rigor in methodology, transparency, and mutual respect towards research subjects.

“The use of AI in research publications is growing rapidly. However, authors must be transparent. If AI tools are used, this must be clearly stated in the Methods or Acknowledgements section,” the material explained.

AI Is Not a Writer: Understanding the Differences Between “Copywriting” and “Copy-editing”

One crucial point discussed was international publishers’ policies on AI. Based on COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) standards and Emerald’s policy, AI cannot be considered an author because AI cannot be held responsible for the content of a manuscript, does not have legal entity, and cannot manage conflicts of interest.

Webinar participants were invited to understand the clear distinction between what is permitted and what is prohibited:

• PROHIBITED (Copywriting): Using AI to create new material from scratch, such as writing abstracts, compiling literature reviews, or developing hypotheses. This violates the criteria for authorship because you, the original author, are responsible for the originality of the ideas.
• ALLOWED (Copy-editing): Using AI to correct grammar, spelling, and readability in manuscripts written by the author themselves. This is considered equivalent to standard spell-checking tools, as long as it does not drastically change the substance of the material.

In addition, the use of AI to create artistic images or manipulate research data is also strictly prohibited.

This webinar also highlighted the global increase in article retractions, one of the causes of which is the misuse of AI and ethical violations. William presented data from Retraction Watch showing a surge in cases where papers were retracted because they were suspected of being generated by AI without human supervision, even leaving phrases such as “Regenerate Response” in the published manuscript.

Through this activity, the ITS Library hopes that ITS researchers and students can become smart writers: able to utilize technology for efficiency, while still upholding the ethics and originality of scientific work. ( onemore ITS )