Generative AI Policies for Books and Commissioned Content
About
Elsevier’s Generative AI policies aim to provide greater transparency and guidance to authors, readers, editors and reviewers in relation to generative AI and AI-assisted technologies. Elsevier will monitor ongoing developments in this area closely and will adjust or refine these policies as appropriate. Please see below for more details on Generative AI use in writing, editing, or reviewing of books and commissioned content.
For Authors
The use of generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process
This policy aims to provide greater transparency and guidance to authors, readers, reviewers, editors, and contributors in relation to generative AI and AI-assisted technologies. Elsevier will continue to monitor developments in this area and will adjust or refine policies as appropriate. The following guidance is specifically for authors of books and commissioned content.
Elsevier recognizes the potential of generative AI and AI-assisted technologies (“AI Tools”), when used responsibly, to help authors work efficiently, gain critical research, educational, or clinical insights, and achieve better outcomes. Increasingly, these tools, including AI agents and deep research tools, are helping authors to synthesize complex literature, provide an overview of a field, review evidence-based clinical care, identify research gaps, and provide tailored support for tasks such as content organization and improving language and readability. Authors preparing a manuscript for Elsevier can use AI Tools to support them.
These tools must never be used as a substitute for human critical thinking, expertise and evaluation. AI Tools should always be applied with human oversight and control. Ultimately, authors are responsible and accountable for the contents of their work. This includes accountability for:
Carefully reviewing the terms and conditions of any AI Tool to ensure that:
their use of the AI Tool maintains the privacy and confidentiality of their data and inputs to the AI Tool, including unpublished and published manuscripts, and any personally identifiable information.
they only grant limited rights to the AI Tool to provide a service to them.
the terms and conditions do not restrict the subsequent publication or dissemination of their work.
Ensuring that no content is uploaded to any AI Tool which might infringe the author’s or Elsevier’s intellectual property (for example, content from a previous edition that is being revised).
Carefully reviewing and verifying the accuracy, comprehensiveness, and impartiality of all AI-generated output (including checking the sources, as AI-generated references can be incorrect or fabricated).
Editing and adapting all material thoroughly to ensure the manuscript represents the author’s authentic and original contribution and reflects their own analysis, interpretation, insights and ideas.
Ensuring the use of any tools or sources, AI-based or otherwise, is made clear and transparent to readers — for the use of AI Tools we require a disclosure statement upon submission.
Responsible use of AI and AI-assisted Tools
Authors must check the terms and conditions of any AI Tool that they use to ensure that the privacy and confidentiality of their data and inputs, including their unpublished and published manuscripts, is maintained. Particular care should be taken with any personally identifiable data. Images that duplicate or refer to existing copyrighted images, real people, or others’ identifiable products or brands must not be generated, nor any likeness of an individual’s voice. Authors should check for factual errors and for any potential bias.
Authors should also check the terms and conditions of any AI Tool they wish to use so that the AI Tool is only granted restricted rights to use their materials (i.e., to provide a service to the user) and not any other rights (including without limitation the right to train the AI Tool on those materials). They must also ensure that the AI Tool does not impose constraints on the use of outputs from the AI Tool in a way that could restrict the subsequent publication of the relevant book chapter or commissioned content.
Disclosure
Authors should disclose the use of AI Tools for manuscript preparation in a separate AI declaration statement upon submission. The statement should be inserted at the end of the manuscript, immediately above the references, entitled ‘Declaration of Generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process.’ The statement will appear in the published work. Authors should document their use of AI, including the name of the AI Tool used, the purpose of the use, and the extent of their oversight. Declaring the use of AI Tools supports transparency and trust between authors, readers, reviewers, editors and contributors and facilitates compliance with the terms of use of the relevant AI Tool. Basic checks of grammar, spelling and punctuation need no declaration. AI use in the research process should be declared and described in detail in the methods section, if relevant.
Authorship
Authors should not list AI Tools as an author or co-author, nor cite AI Tools as an author. Authorship implies responsibilities and tasks that can only be attributed to and performed by humans. Each individual author is accountable for ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved. Authorship requires the ability to approve the final version of the work and agree to its submission. Authors are also responsible for ensuring that the work is original and has not been previously published, that the stated authors qualify for authorship, and the work does not infringe third party rights, and should familiarize themselves with Elsevier’s Publishing ethics for books policy before they submit.
The use of generative AI and AI-assisted tools in figures, images and artwork
Elsevier does not permit the use of generative AI or AI-assisted tools to create or alter images in submitted manuscripts. This may include enhancing, obscuring, moving, removing, or introducing a specific feature within an image or figure. Adjustments of brightness, contrast, or color balance are acceptable if they do not obscure or eliminate any information present in the original. Image forensics tools or specialized software might be applied to submitted manuscripts to identify suspected image irregularities.
The only exception is if the use of generative AI or AI-assisted tools is part of the research design or research methods (such as in AI-assisted imaging approaches to generate or interpret the underlying research data, for example in the field of biomedical imaging). If this is done, such use must be described in a reproducible manner in the methods section. This should include an explanation of how the generative AI or AI-assisted tools were used in the image creation or alteration process, and the name of the model or tool, version and extension numbers, and manufacturer. Authors should adhere to the AI software’s specific usage policies and ensure correct content attribution. Where applicable, authors could be asked to provide pre-AI-adjusted versions of images and/or the composite raw images used to create the final submitted versions, for editorial assessment.
The use of generative AI or AI-assisted tools in the production of artwork such as for book or commissioned content covers or graphical abstracts is not permitted.
For Editors
The use of generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in the editing process
This policy aims to provide greater transparency and guidance to authors, editors and reviewers in relation to generative AI and AI-assisted technologies. Elsevier will monitor ongoing developments in this area closely and will adjust or refine the policy as appropriate. The following guidance is specifically for editors.
All authors’ work must be treated as confidential. Editors should not upload authors’ material/manuscript or any part thereof into a generative AI tool as this may violate Elsevier’s confidentiality and proprietary rights and, where the material/manuscript contains personally identifiable information, may breach data privacy rights.
This confidentiality requirement extends to all communication about the material/manuscript including any reports or correspondence, as they may contain confidential information about the material/manuscript, Elsevier, and/or the authors.
For this reason, editors should not upload their communications or any related material into an AI tool, even if it is just for the purpose of improving language and readability.
Elsevier abides by the highest standards of integrity in the editorial process which implies responsibilities that can only be attributed to humans. Generative AI or AI-assisted technologies should not be used by editors to assist in the evaluation of authors’ material/ manuscript as the critical thinking and original assessment needed for this work is outside of the scope of this technology and there is a risk that the technology will generate incorrect, incomplete or biased conclusions about the manuscript. The editor is responsible and accountable for the editorial process.
Elsevier’s AI policy for book authors states that authors are allowed to use generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process before submission, but only to improve the language and readability of their work and with the appropriate disclosure, as per our instructions in Elsevier’s Guide for Authors.
Please note that Elsevier owns identity protected AI-assisted technologies which conform to the RELX Responsible AI Principles. These in-house or licensed technologies respect confidentiality. Our programs are subject to rigorous evaluation of bias and are compliant with data privacy and data security requirements.
For Reviewers
The use of generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in the review process
This policy aims to provide greater transparency and guidance to authors, editors and reviewers in relation to generative AI and AI-assisted technologies. Elsevier will monitor ongoing developments in this area closely and will adjust or refine the policy as appropriate. The following guidance is specifically for reviewers.
When a subject matter expert is invited to participate in the review process, the material/manuscript must be treated as confidential. Reviewers should not upload the material/manuscript or any part thereof into a generative AI tool as this may violate Elsevier’s and/or the authors’ confidentiality and proprietary rights and, where the material/manuscript contains personally identifiable information, may breach data privacy rights.
This confidentiality requirement extends to all communication about the material/manuscript including any reviewer questionnaires, reports, or correspondence, as these may contain confidential information about the material/manuscript, Elsevier and/or the authors. For this reason, reviewers should not upload their communications or any related material into an AI tool, even if it is just for the purpose of improving language and readability.
Elsevier abides by the highest standards of integrity in the review process which implies responsibilities that can only be attributed to humans. Generative AI or AI-assisted technologies should not be used by reviewers to assist in the review of the material/manuscript as the critical thinking and original assessment needed for review is outside of the scope of this technology and there is a risk that the technology will generate incorrect, incomplete or biased conclusions. The reviewer is responsible and accountable for the content of the review.
Elsevier’s AI policy for book authors states that authors are allowed to use generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process before submission, but only to improve the language and readability of their work and with the appropriate disclosure, as per our instructions in Elsevier’s Guide for Authors.
Please note that Elsevier owns identity protected AI-assisted technologies which conform to the RELX Responsible AI Principlesopens in new tab/window. These in-house or licensed technologies respect confidentiality. Our programs are subject to rigorous evaluation of bias and are compliant with data privacy and data security requirements.
Elsevier's use of AI and AI-assisted technologies in the publication process
At Elsevier, we are committed to harnessing the power of cutting-edge technologies like generative AI to enhance the accessibility and quality of our products and services. We leverage AI Tools across various aspects of our publishing process to improve efficiency, accuracy, and user experience. We strive to integrate AI Tools thoughtfully and ethically, with human oversight, to benefit both our business and our valued customers. We also ensure our AI Tools follow the RELX Responsible AI Principlesopens in new tab/window throughout their development, keeping sustainability and responsibility at the core of what we do.
FAQs
Authorship implies responsibilities and tasks that can only be attributed to and performed by humans. Authors are accountable for ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved; authorship requires the ability to approve the final version of the work and agree to its submission. Authors are also responsible for ensuring that the work is original, that the stated authors qualify for authorship, and the work does not infringe third-party rights.
Elsevier will monitor developments around generative AI and AI-assisted technologies and will adjust or refine this policy should it be appropriate. Learn more about our authorship policy.
No, this policy does not relate to tools such as spelling or grammar checkers. These tools can be used by authors without disclosure. This policy is specific to generative AI and AI-assisted tools, such as Large Language Models, which can generate output that may be used to create original content for publication.
Yes, authors can use AI tools to help organize literature and suggest sources. However, authors should carefully review and verify the accuracy, comprehensiveness, and impartiality of all AI-generated output. Authors should always check sources, as AI-generated references and citations can be incorrect, hallucinated, or fabricated.
Authors should also note that many traditional reference manager tools (such as Mendeley, EndNote, and others) now offer generative AI options. If these tools are used without a generative AI option to organize references, this process does not require disclosure. If these or any AI tool was used to select, collate, generate or edit references, this should be noted in the methods section or declaration as applicable.
No, this policy refers to generative AI and AI-assisted technologies, such as Large Language Models, when they are used to create original content for publication. This policy does not prevent the use of generative AI and AI-assisted tools in formal research design or research methods. We recognize that the use of such technology is common in many fields. Where generative AI or AI-assisted tools are used in this context, they should be described as part of the methodology of the work, with details provided in the Methods section, if relevant, or in a separate section preceding references or bibliography.
Authors who have used generative AI or AI-assisted tools must insert a statement at the end of their manuscript immediately above the references or bibliography entitled ‘Declaration of generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process’. In that statement, we ask authors to specify the tool that was used and the reason for using the tool. We suggest that authors follow this format when preparing their statement:
During the preparation of this work the author(s) used [NAME TOOL / SERVICE] in order to [REASON]. After using this tool/service, the author(s) reviewed and edited the content as needed and take(s) full responsibility for the content of the publication.
No, we do not permit the use of AI or AI-assisted tools to create or alter images in submitted works (which include chapters, introductions, forewords, covers, etc.). It is not acceptable to enhance, obscure, move, remove, or introduce a specific feature within an image. Manipulating images for improved clarity is accepted and adjustments of brightness, contrast, or color balance are acceptable if they do not alter the meaning of the image, but manipulation for other purposes could be seen as conflicting with scientific and ethical principles. The only exception is if the use of AI or AI-assisted tools in the creation or alteration of images is part of the research design or research methods. If this is done, we require a clear description of the content that was created or altered, an explanation of how the AI or AI-assisted tools were used in the creation or alteration process, and the name of the model or tool, version and extension numbers, and manufacturer.
AI and AI-assisted tools do not qualify for authorship under Elsevier’s authorship policy. Authors who use AI or AI-assisted tools during the writing process are asked to disclose their use in a separate section of the manuscript. The publishing agreement process works as usual, with the author transferring copyright to Elsevier or retaining copyright and granting an exclusive license to Elsevier.
No, authors cannot use output from AI agents or deep research directly as the text of their manuscript. AI output can only serve as inspiration in the manuscript preparation process, and any manuscript needs to represent the authors' authentic and original contribution and reflect the authors' own analysis, interpretation and ideas. Authors should carefully check all AI-generated output for factual accuracy, comprehensiveness, and impartiality, and verify all sources.
Authors should review each AI tool’s terms before use to protect privacy and confidentiality, especially for unpublished manuscripts and any personally identifiable information. Authors should ensure the AI tool seeks only limited rights to service their needs and does not train on their materials. Authors should not upload restricted or sensitive content unless they are confident the tool’s terms allow it, that it will be kept confidential, and will not be used to train the tool. Authors may not upload previously-published or copyrighted content into external, open AI tools in order to protect their and Elsevier’s content from feeding external data sources.
No, authors may not upload previously-published or copyrighted content into external, open AI tools in order to protect Elsevier’s and authors’ content from feeding external data sources.
No, authors must not upload copyrighted material they don’t own or have rights to. Authors must ensure that no content is uploaded to any AI tool which might infringe the author’s or Elsevier’s intellectual property (for example, content from a previous edition that is being revised). Editorial control should remain with humans, and any AI involvement that affects content should be disclosed.
Policy updated: July 2026