Submissions

   At a time when generative AI technologies seem to be ubiquitous inside and outside of academe, the editors and editorial staff of JNT: Journal of Narrative Theory believe it is important to remind our authors, reviewers, and readers of our mission: we remain committed to producing a high quality journal created by humans, for humans, about the narrative endeavors of humans.

   To our authors, we promise to continue to give your submissions the benefit of our careful, personal consideration. We treat editing and reviewing as a form of mentorship, a relationship that would be undermined by the use of tools that remove the human element from the process.

   We ask that authors submitting to the journal adhere to the guidelines we have provided below. Should we contact you with questions regarding AI usage, we hope you understand that we are working to ensure that all authors and readers know that JNT publishes only the highest quality scholarship. We want you to be proud of your affiliation with our journal.

   To our reviewers, we value your expertise and are profoundly grateful for your collegial generosity helping our journal publish according to the highest academic standards.

AI Usage Guidelines for Authors

• Content Generation:

Manuscripts submitted to the journal must reflect the author’s authentic and original intellectual property. Generating content of any kind using an AI tool is prohibited. This includes content such as manuscripts, abstracts, literature reviews, introductions, conclusions, etc.  In the event of ambiguity or uncertainty regarding AI usage, authors should contact the editors at jnt@emich.edu.

• Authorship:

Human authors are solely responsible and accountable for the accuracy, integrity, and originality of the entire manuscript. AI tools are not authors, and therefore cannot be credited or cited in your manuscript. 

• Visual Materials:

All visual elements generated through the use of AI are strictly prohibited. Any visual used in or alongside the manuscript must either be produced originally or sourced ethically. 

• Language Editing and/or Proofreading:

Authors may use AI tools in order to improve grammar, spelling and clarity, as long as it does not impact the intellectual substance of the article. AI tools may also be used to generate “Alt-Text” for visual images and as a formatting tool. However, authors remain fully accountable for the original content and any errors resulting from AI use.

• Disclosure of AI Usage:

Authors using AI for editing purposes must attach a disclosure of AI usage to their submission. This statement specifying the tool used and also the purpose of AI usage can be included as an endnote. For example:

“This manuscript was edited using [AI Tool Name] for language refinement. The intellectual content remains entirely the responsibility of the author[s]”

AI Usage Guidelines for Reviewers

• Authors have not given permission for reviewers and editors to share their unpublished work with AI technologies. Uploading manuscripts violates authors’ confidentiality and proprietary rights.
• Reviewers may not use AI technology to generate summaries or evaluations of articles. Similar to authors, they are welcome to use assistive AI technologies for standard editing and formatting tasks.
• If a reviewer uses AI to edit the language of their report, they must disclose this usage to the comments to the editor section.
• Editors and reviewers are fully responsible and accountable for the content, accuracy, and integrity of their reports.