The Assistant, Not the Author: Confronting the Misuse of Artificial Intelligence in Academic Writing: Editorial Letter

Ilham Kurniawan (Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Pembangunan Nasional Veteran Jawa Timur, Surabaya, 60294, Indonesia)

Journal of Diverse Medical Research: Medicosphere
Vol. 3 No. 6 (2026): Journal of Diverse Medical Research : Medicosphere 2026

Preamble A fundamental question facing academic publishing today is this: Where do we draw the line between legitimate assistance and unacceptable delegation when it comes to artificial intelligence? As generative AI tools become increasingly integrated into research workflows, the distinction between using AI as a helper and presenting it as a creator has never been more critical or more frequently misunderstood. As Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Medicosphere, I write to address a growing concern: the misuse of AI in scholarly manuscripts, particularly the tendency to treat AI-generated content as if it were the author’s own work, or worse, to list AI tools as co-authors. This is not a technological problem it is an ethical one. And it demands our immediate attention.