Neurosurgical journals' policies on artificial intelligence use in manuscript preparation and peer review

As artificial intelligence (AI), particularly large language models (LLMs), continues to progress, its impact on academic publishing, both in manuscript drafting and peer review, has attracted considerable attention. In neurosurgery, where journals serve a crucial role in disseminating research, formal guidelines regarding AI remain relatively underexplored. Our study aims to investigate the current state of AI policies among prominent neurosurgical journals, focusing on their role in manuscript preparation and peer review. 38 neurosurgical journals were identified by searching the Johns Hopkins University of Medicine Welch Medical Library, combined with National Library of Medicine subject terms. Each journal's author instructions, editorial policies, and peer-review guidelines were examined for explicit AI usage policies, focusing on manuscript preparation and peer review. Tasks such as writing assistance, data analysis, figure generation, and citation management were documented if identified. Any stated requirements, prohibitions, and disclosure practices for AI were recorded, as well as instances where no policy existed. Of the 38 journals surveyed, 31 (81.6%) had AI use guidelines, 9 (23.7%) based on individual journal-level explicit policies and 22 (57.9%) based on publisher-level guidelines. Majority of journals (n=30, 78.9%) provided guidelines for using AI in manuscript preparation, with most prohibiting its inclusion as an author. Most journals allow but mandate transparent disclosure of AI involvement in readability improvements, grammar correction, and style editing. Fewer journals (n = 13, 34.2%) specified AI policies for peer review, although those that did mention AI often prohibited its use for evaluating submissions due to confidentiality concerns. Although many neurosurgical journals now acknowledge AI's role in manuscript preparation, guidelines for AI-driven peer review remain scarce. Given AI's rapid advancement, establishing clear, comprehensive, and standardized AI policies will be critical for upholding transparency, quality, and efficiency in neurosurgical publishing.