KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Key updates to the ICMJE Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals include guidance on the use of AI by authors, editors, and reviewers.
• Other important updates include statements on fair authorship assignment, sustainability goals, funding support declarations, and protection of research participants.

The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) recently updated its Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals. Key updates provide guidance on appropriate authorship of research carried out in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in generating and reporting data. The latest recommendations and an annotated version of the previous recommendations are both freely available on the committee’s website, and a summary of all updates is provided below.

• Authorship: local investigators should be included as authors on publications reporting data from LMICs. As well as ensuring fairness, local author contributions provide additional context on the implications of research.
• Use of AI (authors): if AI is used to provide writing assistance, this should be clearly stated in the article acknowledgements. The use of AI by researchers to help collect data or generate figures should be noted in the methods.
• Use of AI (editors and reviewers): journal editors should be aware of potential confidentiality concerns if AI is used in the review process. Reviewers must request permission from the journal before using AI assistance.
• Carbon emissions: all stakeholders in medical publishing should collaborate to work towards net zero carbon emissions.
• Acknowledging funding support: funding statements should relate directly to the work being reported, for example: “This study was funded by A; Dr. F’s time on the work was supported by B.” Other potential conflicts of interest and general funding support should be included in the disclosures section.
• Protection of research participants: authors should be prepared to provide approval documentation for their study if requested by editors.
• Citations: wherever possible, cited references should be published articles rather than abstracts.

In an editorial published in Cureus, Sankalp Yadav takes a detailed look at the evolution of the recommendations and their impact on medical publishing, describing the latest updates as a “beacon of ethical guidance in the ever-evolving domain of biomedical research and publishing”. Yadav also discusses some of the ongoing challenges in implementing the ICMJE guidance, such as the promotion of fair and ethical authorship practices and keeping pace with new developments – something that may be particularly true for AI and its increasing impact across all areas of medical research and publishing.

If AI is used to provide writing assistance, this should be clearly stated in the article acknowledgements.

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