Artificial Intelligence (AI) Policy

Purpose

The CedarCommons Institutional Repository (“the Repository”) is a service of the Centennial Library and Cedarville University. This policy establishes guidelines for the responsible use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) with respect to the Repository. It aims to (1) clarify expectations regarding author use of AI in scholarly work, and (2) protect Repository content from unauthorized scraping, automated harvesting, or misuse.

1. Author Use of AI in Scholarly Submissions

1.1 Transparency in AI Use

• Authors must disclose all use of AI tools (e.g., generative text, image, code, or data analysis tools) in the creation of their deposited work in the “contributor’s notes” field of the submission form.
• Disclosure must specify the scope and nature of AI contributions (e.g., “AI-assisted in proofreading,” “AI-generated draft text later edited by the author,” “AI-assisted data visualization”).

1.2 Limitations on AI Authorship

• Responsibility for originality, accuracy, and integrity of deposited works rests solely with the human author(s).

1.3 Prohibited Uses of AI

• Authors may not use AI to generate entire works for deposit without substantial original intellectual contribution from the author(s).
• Fabrication of sources, data, citations, or other deceptive practices involving AI tools is strictly prohibited.

2. Protection of Repository Content

2.1 Unauthorized Data Scraping

• Automated bots, web crawlers, or scraping tools are prohibited from harvesting Repository metadata, full texts, or associated files without express written authorization from the Repository administrators.
• Authorized indexing by recognized scholarly search engines (e.g., Google Scholar, OAI-PMH compliant harvesters) is permitted, provided it complies with Repository protocols and access restrictions.
• Technical measures (e.g., CAPTCHA, rate-limiting, robots.txt) may be employed to enforce these restrictions.

2.2 Permissible Use of Repository Data

• Repository content is provided for research, teaching, and educational purposes only, subject to copyright and licensing terms specified by each author or publisher.
• Any AI-based training, fine-tuning, or dataset-building using Repository content requires prior written permission from the Repository administrators and adherence to applicable copyright and licensing laws.

3. Compliance and Enforcement

• Violations of this policy may result in removal of content, suspension of submission privileges, or further institutional action.
• Repository administrators reserve the right to audit submissions and request clarification regarding AI use.

4. Policy Review

This policy will be reviewed and updated as AI technologies and scholarly communication practices evolve.