A systematic examination of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) use guidelines in applied linguistics journals

Abstract

The unannounced appearance of GenAI in 2022 and the speed of its adoption by researchers have left many questions unanswered about its accepted ethical use, with no apparent consensus among applied linguists. In this context, it’s essential for researchers to develop their GenAI literacy for research to engage with GenAI effectively and responsibly. This study contributes to identifying key components of this literacy through examining accepted GenAI uses in research practices. Based on a systematically sampled collection of 170 high-impact journals in applied linguistics, we investigated the scope and nature of GenAI use guidelines provided by 76 journals intended to guide authors. A checklist including four items regarding general statements and 17 items regarding three categories of specific aspects that GenAI guidelines target (authorship, uses, and human responsibility) was identified. Our findings reveal that (1) less than half of the journals provided GenAI use guidelines to guide authors, (2) the number of specific aspects varied across journals, with most falling short of comprehensive coverage, and (3) disagreements were observed about whether AI can be cited and used for manuscript drafting, idea generating, image generating, data generation, data collection, and data analysis and interpretation. Additionally, journals varied in their guidance on how to disclose GenAI uses. We propose recommendations for journals in improving their AI guidelines. Importantly, we introduce and conceptualize the new construct GenAI literacy for research article writing (GenAI-LR) that is important for authors to develop. We provide actionable recommendations accordingly based on our findings.