9. Publishing with AI
Publishing AI-generated content
UQ’s Responsible Research Management Framework Policy provides guidance on conducting responsible research at UQ.
AI tools can generate meaningful text in response to questions or instructions. It is critical to understand the intellectual property and research integrity implications of using these tools as part of your research or writing practice, a key professional skill for staff and students.
Intellectual property
Copyright
The use of AI tools should be in line with the UQ Intellectual Property Policy and not prevent you from licensing your work.
AI-generated content:
- May infringe copyright: AI tools may reproduce chunks of text subject to copyright without an appropriate citation.
- Is not protected by copyright: Under Australian copyright law, works generated by non-humans are not eligible for copyright protection. This means that any part of your work written by an AI tool is not copyright-protected and can be reused by others without recourse.
Appropriate uses of AI could include using an AI tool to generate code that you intend to iterate on and develop or, publish under an open software licence. In this case, the lack of copyright protection is less impactful. Email copyright@library.uq.edu.au for further advice or help.
Patents
Only a natural person (an individual or business) is considered an inventor under Australia’s Patents Act and Patents Regulations (based on a 2022 ruling of the Federal Court of Australia). This means that using AI to create something that could be patentable may prevent you from patenting the invention.
Contact UniQuest for further advice or help.
Grant writing
Australia’s major funding bodies advise caution when using generative AI tools to develop grant applications.
- Policy on Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence in the ARC’s Grants Programs (PDF, 214KB) July 2023
- Policy on Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence in Grant Applications and Peer Review (NHMRC) June 2023.
Editorial policies of publishers
Publishers of scholarly journals are updating their editorial policies around the use of AI tools. Some papers have recently been retracted where AI image generators have been used to produce misleading or inaccurate figures. Review the publisher’s authorship policy for any journal you are submitting to before including AI-generated content in your paper.
- Some publishers consider any use of generative AI tools in your submission to be misconduct. Others may place limits on how these tools may be used.
- Publishers generally do not permit AI tools to be listed as authors to ensure accountability for the content and the integrity of the work.
Mann et al. (2024) suggest there are three important criteria for the ethical use and acknowledgment of large language models in academic writing:
- Human vetting
- Substantial human contribution
- Acknowledgment and transparency.
