Ethics and AI in Scholarly Publishing: A First-Principles Approach
Ashutosh Ghildiyal Vice President – Growth and Strategy
As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly embedded in scholarly publishing workflows, we find ourselves at a critical juncture. The question is no longer whether AI will transform publishing, but how we can ensure this transformation serves the integrity of scholarship itself.
At Integra, we believe that ethical AI adoption begins not with technology, but with clarity of purpose. Let me share a framework that starts from first principles.
Redefining AI: From Intelligence to Thought
Perhaps the most important distinction we can make is to think of AI not as artificial intelligence, but as artificial thought. This reframing matters because thought involves imagination, analysis, and communication—processes AI can replicate. Intelligence, however, is something different: it’s discernment, the ability to observe without prejudice and know when to stop.
This capacity for restraint, born of awareness, sits at the heart of ethics. And it raises a fundamental question: How do we cultivate discernment in a powerful tool that has none of its own?
Three Principles for Ethical AI Use
1. Do What Is Necessary, No More and No Less
The temptation to apply AI wherever possible is strong. But ethical use begins with restraint. We shouldn’t start with the tool and search for applications—we should start with a clearly defined problem and ask whether AI is the right solution.
AI is justified when it solves a genuine problem that would otherwise be too difficult, tedious, or time-consuming for human effort alone. Using it merely for optimization or novelty risks becoming counterproductive.
2. Amplify, Not Replace, Human Judgment
AI should reduce manual effort and lower-level cognitive work, but it must never erode the higher cognitive processes that define scholarship: reading, reflection, questioning, and meaning-making.
The best application of AI takes over mechanical and routine elements so humans can focus on tasks requiring insight, context, and judgment. In this model, AI complements rather than competes with human intelligence.
3. Build Guardrails for Discernment
Ethical behavior cannot rely on individual discretion alone. It must be supported by systems, processes, and environments that guide responsible use.
These guardrails include secure, publisher-endorsed AI tools, transparent usage policies, audit trails, and shared industry standards. When discernment is built into our systems, ethical use becomes not just an expectation but the natural default.
The Real Risk: Cognitive Laziness
The greatest danger AI poses isn’t technological—it’s cognitive. The real risk lies in allowing AI to dictate what and how we think, bypassing the process of individual perception and direct knowing.
This isn’t hypothetical. We already see it in the fragmented attention and diminished depth of thought that constant digital interaction encourages. What should concern us most isn’t the occasional inaccuracy of AI output, but the potential dulling of human insight that comes from overreliance.
AI learns from what already exists, replicating patterns from accumulated data. But insight arises from lived experience interpreted in the present moment. The vitality of knowledge depends on this human translation of experience into understanding.
The Real Opportunity: Managing Scale
Despite these risks, AI presents a genuine opportunity when deployed wisely. Its greatest strength lies in managing scale—relieving humans of tedious tasks, reducing burnout, and creating cognitive space for reflective work.
Like medical imaging that supports diagnosis without replacing the physician, AI can assist without displacing. It can strengthen research integrity, accelerate workflows, and improve efficiency without diminishing human judgment.
Building Ethical Infrastructure at Integra
At Integra, we’re committed to building the infrastructure that responsible AI use requires: secure environments, transparent workflows, and shared standards that guide ethical behavior by design.
We recognize that publishers face mounting pressure to manage growing manuscript volumes while maintaining quality. This challenge demands collaboration among publishers, technology providers, and industry bodies to ensure AI adoption benefits all stakeholders while safeguarding integrity.
Our approach is grounded in three practical questions that should guide any AI application:
- Is it necessary?
- Does it enhance human judgment and experience?
- Are there guardrails to ensure responsible use?
A Call to Discernment
Ultimately, ethics is discernment: the ability to see clearly what is necessary and to stop where necessity ends. AI is a capable technology that mimics thought, but it cannot replicate awareness, judgment, or conscience.
The challenge before us is to discern where AI can truly help and where it must not intrude. That discernment itself is a form of intelligence—perhaps the most important form.
AI expands what’s possible but also tempts us toward excess. It offers efficiency but risks dulling attention. It amplifies our capabilities but cannot substitute for awareness.
If we ensure that AI serves human judgment rather than substitutes for it—if attention, not automation, remains the ultimate safeguard—then we won’t just protect ethics in publishing. We’ll elevate it.
Ethical publishing isn’t a checklist; it’s a culture of awareness, a daily practice of attention, honesty, and restraint across the ecosystem. Our shared task is to build the infrastructure that makes right actions easier and wrong ones harder. That’s what scholarly publishing needs in the age of AI.
Read the full article: Ethics and AI in Scholarly Publishing: A First-Principles Approach, published in Science Editor.
Ashutosh Ghildiyal is a strategic leader in scholarly publishing and currently serves as Vice President of Growth & Strategy at Integra.