AI Acknowledgement

Journals and conferences / Springer Nature

Springer Nature AI disclosure statement

Springer Nature uses a risk-based traffic-light framework: assistive AI is allowed, evaluative AI is allowed with human oversight and disclosure, and substitutive or opaque AI is banned. Authors must declare generative AI use in the manuscript and stay fully accountable; LLMs cannot be authors.

Checked against Springer Nature's own pages on 9 October 2026 · See the full rules

Write yours

Springer Nature doesn't publish a fixed template, so this uses a general format that covers what it asks for.

Did you use AI?

Your university or journal

Which AI tools?

What did you use it for?

What did you do with what it gave you?

More details · prompts, date, versions
Authors
During the preparation of this work, the authors used ChatGPT (OpenAI, https://chatgpt.com) to brainstorm ideas and check grammar and spelling. After using this tool, the authors reviewed and edited the content as needed and take full responsibility for the content of the publication.

The rules at a glance

When you need one
Whenever generative AI tools are used in research, writing/manuscript preparation or peer review. Sources conflict on 'AI assisted copy editing': one passage says it need not be declared, an FAQ says it should be.
Framework
Traffic light: Green (assistive, permitted), Amber (evaluative or interpretive, permitted with oversight and disclosure), Red (substitutive or opaque, not permitted)
Where it goes
Introduction or Acknowledgements of the manuscript; the FAQ also says Methods section (or equivalent), and for books the acknowledgements, introduction or preface. Non-generative image manipulation goes in the figure caption.
Prompts and outputs
Disclosure of AIGC should include the prompts used; no separate rule on retaining or appending them.
Referencing
Authors must ensure AI-generated content is correct and appropriately referenced; no AI citation format given.
Must include
  • AI tool and version
  • dates used
  • prompts used
  • extent of AI contribution / how AI was used
  • confirmation that authors take full accountability
Also note
  • LLMs/AI tools cannot be authors or hold accountability
  • Generative AI images are generally not allowed in publications (limited exceptions)
  • Direct generation or manipulation of experimental images is prohibited unless explicitly approved
  • Not permitted: fabricating data, citations or results; presenting AI-generated hypotheses or conclusions as human; deepfakes; delegating peer review to an LLM
  • Do not put personal, sensitive, confidential or copyrighted material in prompts
  • Reviewers may use only secure or institutionally approved AI tools and must not upload manuscripts to public AI systems
  • Editors should not upload manuscripts to public AI tools; detection tools may breach confidentiality and editors are not expected to police undisclosed AI use
  • An AI declaration in itself is not a cause for concern

If you didn't use AI

Under the AI Declarations policy, declarations may simply state that AI was not used in any part of the submission; authors and reviewers will also confirm compliance with the AI Editorial Policies at submission.

Sources

Your unit outline or the journal's author guide wins if it says something different. Spotted a change? Tell us.