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Author Instructions

4. Authorship
Authorship credit of OAE journals should be solely based on substantial contributions to a published study, as specified in
the following four criteria:
1. Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work, or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data
for the work;
2. Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content;
3. Final approval of the version to be published;
4. Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of
any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.
All those who meet these criteria should be identified as authors. Authors must specify their contributions in the section
Authors’ Contributions of their manuscripts. Contributors who do not meet all the four criteria (like only involved in
acquisition of funding, general supervision of a research group, general administrative support, writing assistance, technical
editing, language editing, proofreading, etc.) should be acknowledged in the section of Acknowledgement in the manuscript
rather than being listed as authors.
If a large multiple-author group has conducted the work, the group ideally should decide who will be authors before the
work starts and confirm authors before submission. All authors of the group named as authors must meet all the four criteria
for authorship.
AI and AI-assisted technologies should not be listed as an author or co-author.

5. Reviewers Exclusions
You may exclude a maximum of three researchers as potential Editors or reviewers of your manuscript, if you believe that
there may be any conflict of interest. To ensure a fair and rigorous peer review process, we ask that you keep your exclusions
to a maximum of three people. If you wish to exclude additional referees, please explain or justify your concerns—this
information will be helpful for Editors when deciding whether to honor your request.
6. Editors and Journal Staff as Authors

Editorial independence is extremely important and OAE does not interfere with editorial decisions.
Editorial staff or Editors shall not be involved in the processing their own academic work. Submissions authored by editorial
staff/Editors will be assigned to at least three independent outside reviewers. Decisions will be made by other Editorial
Board members who do not have conflict of interests with the author. Journal staffs are not involved in the processing of
their own work submitted to any OAE journals.

7. Policy of the Use of AI and AI-assisted Technologies
7.1 AI Authorship
Generative AI and AI-assisted technologies (e.g., large language models) are increasingly employed in content creation.
However, their use in manuscript preparation is strictly limited:
• Prohibited applications: These tools must not be used to perform core research tasks, including generating scientific
insights, analyzing/interpreting data, or drawing scientific conclusions.
• Permitted applications: They may only be used to enhance manuscript readability and language quality.
All AI technologies must be used under human oversight, as they may produce inaccurate or biased content. AI tools cannot
be listed as authors/co-authors or cited as such. Authors retain full responsibility for all content, including AI-generated
material.
Exceptions for methodological use:
If AI tools are integral to the research design/methodology, authors must:
1. Document usage transparently in the Materials and Methods section, specifying:
• Tool/model name
• Version/extension number
• Manufacturer
2. Include a declaration titled “Declaration of Generative AI Use” before the reference section, stating:
“During the preparation of this work, the author(s) used [TOOL NAME] due to [reason]. The author(s) reviewed and edited
all AI-generated content and accept full responsibility for the published material.”
Note: No declaration is required for basic grammar/spelling checkers or reference managers.
7.2 AI-Generated Figures and Images
This policy outlines the acceptable use of generative AI technologies, including Large Language Models (e.g., ChatGPT,
Jasper) and text-to-image generators (e.g., DALL-E 2, Midjourney, Stable Diffusion), in the creation or modification of
manuscripts submitted to OAE.
• Graphical abstracts
• Cover images
• Figures within manuscripts

XIV Microbiome Research Reports