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DefAI – Terms and Conditions

DefAI: Defining Artificial Intelligence

A Global Collaborative Inquiry by Scholars and Practitioners into Diverse Perspectives on Critical AI Concepts, Including Agentic AI, AI Strategy and Human Enhancive AI.
Explore the DefAI Initiative

Terms and Conditions

1. Preamble

These terms and conditions aim to 1) provide clarity, 2) protect everyone’s rights, and 3) facilitate a smooth, successful research initiative.

We seek to support a fair and respectful process across a large group of contributors (target: 100+). We request you to proceed only if you agree to abide by all the terms listed below without any exceptions or conditions.

2. Confidentiality Agreement

  1. All submissions via the Collaboration Interface (CI) or emails are confidential until publication.
  2. Names and affiliations may be published; email IDs may be published if needed.
  3. Anonymized data may be used for research and shared on platforms like GitHub.
  4. Sharing unpublished drafts or internal communications is prohibited.

3. Quality Standards for Contributing Authors

  1. Submissions must be original and in the author’s own words.
  2. Plagiarism or AI-generated content is prohibited.
  3. Each author should dedicate at least 90–120 minutes to writing and submitting original content.
  4. Only one submission per author is allowed.
  5. Submissions cannot be edited or withdrawn once submitted.
  6. Submission language: English.
  7. All citations must be in APA 6 format (only if any references are included).
  8. Due date will be announced via email. Late submissions will not be accepted.

4. Editorial Structure

  1. Editorial Author: Final decisions, manages the manuscript, and editorial process, contributions via CI.
  2. Lead Authors: Support editorial process, synthesis of data, submit original contributions via CI.
  3. Contributing Authors: Submit original contributions via CI.
  4. Not all submissions will be accepted. Only high quality and original submissions which align with the editorial and intellectual goals of this initiative, will be included.

5. Recognition and Attribution

  1. All contributors are unpaid volunteers.
  2. Co-authorship will be credited in the journal manuscript in the following order: Editorial team + lead authors will be listed first, then others alphabetically by last name.
  3. Mentions of select or all author names and affiliations may be made in promotions, social media posts and other public materials.

6. Appendix of Raw Data

Authors may choose whether their name appears beside their raw contribution in the public appendix. Either option grants full co-authorship in the final publication.

7. Editorial Decisions and Co-authorship

  1. Editorial author holds final authority on content inclusion and ordering.
  2. Contributions will be reviewed for originality, clarity, and relevance.
  3. Co-authorship applies only to the main journal article, not for other future outputs.
  4. Submission does not imply automatic inclusion. Contributions will be accepted based on the quality of input and only included authors /contributors will be updated via email within approximately three months of evaluation.
  5. After the main article is published, any of the authors can use the public appendix data for their own research with their own teams without any obligations to the current initiative or authors.

8. Licensing and Financial Details

  1. Outputs may be released under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.
  2. No payments are required from or offered to contributing authors.
  3. Publication costs (if any) will be covered by the editorial team or sponsors.

9. Ethical Standards

  1. All submissions must be original and not generated by AI.
  2. Plagiarism or fact distortion will result in exclusion.
  3. Submissions should avoid discriminatory or promotional content.
  4. Editorial team may edit contributions for clarity and fit.

10. Submission Acknowledgment

By submitting, you:

  1. Consent to editorial changes and partial use of your content.
  2. Accept the confidentiality terms and potential open-access publishing.
  3. Acknowledge that final inclusion is at the editor/editorial teams discretion.
  4. Consent to listing in a public appendix (with option to remain anonymous, to be selected via CI).
  5. Violations of any of these terms may result in removal from co-authorship, at any stage.
  6. No guarantees or assurances of any kind whatsoever are provided to any of the authors. There are risks, as with all research projects, that publication output may be delayed or may not happen at all and the initiative could be shelved without explanation.
  7. Communication protocols:  While a reasonable effort will be made to respond to serious inquiries. There is no guarantee that emails or communications will be responded to. This is due to the large number of collaborators and the limited resources available.
  8. Zero liability – None of the editors or organizers or authors (in any capacity) or the collaborating bodies or institutions involved can be held liable for any individual or collective actions or absence of actions taken by any party with regards to any aspect of this initiative.

11. Updates and Modifications

  1. These Terms and Conditions may be updated or modified at any stage. All selected authors / contributors will be notified of significant changes, if any.

12. Contact

Questions? Email: informatics@ejb.rutgers.edu
Use a custom subject line in this format: “DefAI + (topic)”