Core principles of responsible generative AI usage in research

Tim-Dorian Knöchel^#^{1

2}, Konrad J Schweizer^#³, Oguz A Acar⁴, Atakan M Akil^{5

6}, Ali H Al-Hoorie⁷, Florian Buehler⁸, Mahmoud M Elsherif^{9

10}, Alice Giannini¹¹, Evelien Heyselaar¹², Mohammad Hosseini¹³, Vinodh Ilangovan¹⁴, Marton Kovacs^{5

15

16}, Zhicheng Lin^{17

18}, Meng Liu¹⁹, Anco Peeters^{2

20}, Don van Ravenzwaaij²¹, Marek A Vranka²², Yuki Yamada²³, Yu-Fang Yang²⁴, Balazs Aczel⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Social and Cultural Psychology, Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
² Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
³ Department of Clinical Psychology, Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
⁴ Department of Marketing, King's Business School, King's College London, London, United Kingdom.
⁵ Institute of Psychology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary.
⁶ Institute of Psychology, University of Pécs, Pécs, Hungary.
⁷ Jubail English Language and Preparatory Year Institute, Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu, Jubail, Saudi Arabia.
⁸ Department of Business and Management, Vorarlberg University of Applied Sciences, Dornbirn, Austria.
⁹ Department of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom.
¹⁰ School of Psychology and Vision Sciences, University of Leicester, Leicester, United Kingdom.
¹¹ Department of Criminal Law and Criminology, Faculty of Law, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
¹² Department of Communication and Media, Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
¹³ Department of Preventive Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA.
¹⁴ TIB Leibniz Information Centre for Science and Technology, Hannover, Germany.
¹⁵ Doctoral School of Psychology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary.
¹⁶ MNB Institute, John von Neumann University, Kecskemét, Hungary.
¹⁷ Department of Psychology, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China.
¹⁸ Department of Psychology, Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
¹⁹ School of English and International Studies, Beijing Foreign Studies University, Beijing, China.
²⁰ School of Artificial Intelligence, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
²¹ Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
²² Department of Marketing Communication and PR, Institute of Communication Studies and Journalism, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic.
²³ Division of Experimental Natural Science, Faculty of Arts and Science, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.
²⁴ Division of Experimental Psychology and Neuropsychology, Department of Education and Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.

^# Contributed equally.

PMID: 41209329
PMCID: PMC12592249
DOI: 10.1007/s43681-025-00768-8

Core principles of responsible generative AI usage in research

Tim-Dorian Knöchel et al. AI Ethics. 2025.

. 2025;5(6):6371-6377.

doi: 10.1007/s43681-025-00768-8. Epub 2025 Oct 14.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Social and Cultural Psychology, Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
² Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
³ Department of Clinical Psychology, Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
⁴ Department of Marketing, King's Business School, King's College London, London, United Kingdom.
⁵ Institute of Psychology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary.
⁶ Institute of Psychology, University of Pécs, Pécs, Hungary.
⁷ Jubail English Language and Preparatory Year Institute, Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu, Jubail, Saudi Arabia.
⁸ Department of Business and Management, Vorarlberg University of Applied Sciences, Dornbirn, Austria.
⁹ Department of Psychology, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, United Kingdom.
¹⁰ School of Psychology and Vision Sciences, University of Leicester, Leicester, United Kingdom.
¹¹ Department of Criminal Law and Criminology, Faculty of Law, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
¹² Department of Communication and Media, Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
¹³ Department of Preventive Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA.
¹⁴ TIB Leibniz Information Centre for Science and Technology, Hannover, Germany.
¹⁵ Doctoral School of Psychology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary.
¹⁶ MNB Institute, John von Neumann University, Kecskemét, Hungary.
¹⁷ Department of Psychology, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China.
¹⁸ Department of Psychology, Yonsei University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
¹⁹ School of English and International Studies, Beijing Foreign Studies University, Beijing, China.
²⁰ School of Artificial Intelligence, Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
²¹ Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences, University of Groningen, Groningen, The Netherlands.
²² Department of Marketing Communication and PR, Institute of Communication Studies and Journalism, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic.
²³ Division of Experimental Natural Science, Faculty of Arts and Science, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.
²⁴ Division of Experimental Psychology and Neuropsychology, Department of Education and Psychology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany.

^# Contributed equally.

PMID: 41209329
PMCID: PMC12592249
DOI: 10.1007/s43681-025-00768-8

Abstract

In a rapidly evolving Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) landscape, researchers, policymakers, and publishers have to continuously redefine responsible research practices. To ensure guidance of GenAI use in research, core principles that remain stable despite technological advancement are needed. This article defines a list of principles guiding the responsible use of GenAI in research, regardless of use case and GenAI technology employed. To define this framework, we conducted an anonymised Delphi consensus procedure comprising a panel of 16 international and multidisciplinary experts in AI, social sciences, law, ethics, and scientific publishing. After three rounds of independent rating and feedback, the panel reached consensus on eight sequentially ordered principles required for responsible GenAI usage: Regulations, Data Security, Quality Control, Originality, Bias Mitigation, Accountability, Transparency, and Broader Impact. For the clear reporting of adherence to these principles, we created a checklist allowing active implementation into the research process. With these efforts, we aim to guide everyday research, support the development of further specified regulations, policies, and guidelines, and promote discussion about GenAI use in research.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s43681-025-00768-8.

Keywords: Ethics; Generative artificial intelligence; Guidelines; Policy and regulation; Research integrity.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interestThe authors have no competing interests to declare that are relevant to the content of this article.

Figures

**Fig. 1**
Core principles of responsible GenAI usage in research

See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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Core principles of responsible generative AI usage in research

Affiliations

Core principles of responsible generative AI usage in research

Authors

Affiliations

Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

Figures

References

LinkOut - more resources

Full Text Sources