Environmental Science Technology AI Policy: ChatGPT and Generative AI Disclosure Rules for ES&T Authors
Environmental Science & Technology (ACS) requires AI disclosure under ACS rules. AI cannot be an author. This guide covers where to disclose, what to disclose, and the consequences of non-compliance for ES&T submissions.
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Quick answer: The Environmental Science Technology AI policy follows ACS's rules calibrated to environmental science research submissions.
AI tools can be used for manuscript preparation, but ACS asks authors to disclose the use of AI tools for text or image generation in the Acknowledgments, with a description of when and how the tools were used, and to give full details in the Methods or another appropriate section for more substantial use.
AI cannot be listed as an author of any ES&T paper. For graphics, ACS asks for a brief description of AI use in the figure caption, and AI-generated images should not be used in Table of Contents graphics. An editor may decide that AI use in a submission is too extensive, which can lead to rejection or a request to remove or reduce AI-generated portions.
Run the ES&T submission readiness check which includes an automated AI-disclosure audit, or work through this guide manually. Need broader context? See the ES&T journal overview.
The Manusights ES&T readiness scan. This guide tells you what the ACS AI policy asks Environmental Science & Technology authors to disclose. The scan tells you whether your manuscript has the disclosure language required by the current journal policy before you submit.
We have reviewed manuscripts targeting Environmental Science & Technology (ACS) and peer venues; the named patterns below are patterns we check against the publisher's public AI policy and common editorial-screening risks. 60-day money-back guarantee. Your manuscript is not used for model training, and access is limited to the review workflow.
Editorial detail (for desk-screen calibration). Verify the current Editor-in-Chief and handling-editor list on the journal's editorial-team page before quoting any name in a submission cover letter. Submission portal: ACS Publishing Center. Manuscript constraints: a 150-200-word abstract and a 7,000-word limit for Research Articles (over-limit manuscripts are returned to draft or may be rejected).
We reviewed ACS's AI policy framework against current ES&T author guidelines (accessed 2026-10-08); evidence basis includes both publicly documented ACS policy and our internal anonymized submission corpus. The applicable limits at ES&T are shown below: a 150-200-word abstract and a 7,000-word limit for Research Articles.
The manuscript word limit for ES&T Research Articles is 7,000 words, counted from the abstract through the end of the main text and including graphic captions (other article types have their own caps in the latest author guidelines). The named editorial-culture quirk: ES&T reviewers expect both quantified environmental-data and explicit policy or treatment-technology relevance; mechanism-only or descriptive-only papers extend revision.
What does Environmental Science & Technology (ACS)'s AI policy require?
ES&T authors should check four policy areas under ACS's current AI framework before submission:
Rule 1: Disclose every AI tool used in manuscript preparation
ACS asks authors to disclose the use of AI tools for text or image generation in the Acknowledgments, with a description of when and how the tools were used. For more substantial use, give full details in the Methods or another appropriate section rather than leaving it to the cover letter. Naming the tool and its version or access date is good practice. Examples that call for disclosure at ES&T:
- For ES&T-targeted manuscripts addressing environmental science research: using ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or similar to draft, polish, or edit manuscript text passing through ES&T editorial review
- For ES&T submissions: using AI to generate boilerplate text for limitations, ethics statements, or ES&T-specific response-to-reviewers letters that cite ACS's framework
- For Environmental Science & Technology (ACS) submissions: using AI to translate manuscript text into English from another language
- For ES&T literature reviews: using AI for citation discovery or summarizing prior ES&T work
- For ES&T analytical pipelines: AI-assisted code generation that affects the analysis calls for fuller detail in the Methods
Examples that are not AI text or image generation, the activity the ACS disclosure statement targets:
- At ES&T, using grammar/spell checkers (Word) for line-level edits, when used without generative AI features for new manuscript content
- For ES&T submissions, using reference managers (Zotero, EndNote) for citation formatting against ACS's style guide
- For Environmental Science & Technology (ACS) statistical analysis, using established statistical software (R, Stata, SPSS) where the algorithm is the established tool documented in ES&T's methodological norm, not a generative AI
Rule 2: AI cannot be an author
No AI tool can be listed as an author of a ES&T paper, particularly for environmental science research-class submissions. Under ACS's policy: authorship requires the ability to take responsibility for the content, agree to be accountable for accuracy, and to consent to publication. AI tools cannot do any of these in ES&T's editorial framework. This rule is consistent across ACS journals.
Rule 3: Disclose AI use in graphics and keep AI images out of TOC graphics
ACS does not publish a blanket ban on AI-generated images. For graphics, a brief description of AI use should be included in the figure caption to explain to readers how the image was created. AI-generated images should not be used in Table of Contents graphics, because they have no adjacent caption in which the use of AI can be explained. Journal cover art may use AI image generation if the specific tool is named and described in the cover art caption. The data visualizations themselves still have to come from the actual research, because the ACS Ethical Guidelines require an accurate account of the research conducted.
Rule 4: Reviewers may not put manuscripts into AI tools
ACS Publications asks reviewers for their own expert opinion. Under the ACS Ethical Guidelines, reviewers must not submit manuscript details, correspondence, or referee reports to AI tools, and disclosing any part of a submission or review report to a text generation service is a breach of peer-review confidentiality.
How does Environmental Science & Technology (ACS)'s AI policy compare to peer journals?
Rule | ES&T stance | ACS default | Policy basis |
|---|---|---|---|
AI authorship | Prohibited | Prohibited | Authorship/accountability |
Disclosure location | Acknowledgments (full details in Methods for substantial use) | Acknowledgments (full details in Methods for substantial use) | Authorship/accountability |
AI-generated figures | Caption disclosure; not allowed in TOC graphics | Caption disclosure; not allowed in TOC graphics | Image-integrity guidance |
Reviewer AI use | Not allowed (confidentiality) | Not allowed (confidentiality) | Peer-review confidentiality guidance |
Enforcement | Editor discretion (rejection or revision if AI use is too extensive) | Editor discretion (rejection or revision if AI use is too extensive) | Editorial discretion |
Source: ACS AI policy (accessed 2026-10-08) plus ES&T author guidelines.
What does AI disclosure look like in a ES&T Methods section?
Acceptable disclosure language for ES&T submissions:
"For our environmental science research-focused manuscript at ES&T, we used ChatGPT-4o (OpenAI, version dated October 2024) to polish English-language phrasing in the Introduction and Discussion sections. We did not use generative AI for data analysis, figure generation, or substantive manuscript content. All authors reviewed and edited the AI-assisted text and take responsibility for the final manuscript."
Or, for AI-assisted code:
"For this ES&T submission addressing environmental science research, initial Python code for the Bayesian regression analysis was drafted with Claude 3.5 Sonnet (Anthropic, version dated December 2024). All code was reviewed, modified, and validated by the authors before use; the final version is available at [repository URL]. Statistical inference was performed using the established R package brms."
What is too vague to meet the ACS disclosure line:
- For ES&T addressing environmental science research: "AI tools were used in manuscript preparation." Too vague, because ACS asks for a description of when and how the tools were used; naming the tool and version makes that description checkable
- "We acknowledge AI assistance in the Acknowledgments." (The Acknowledgments is the location ACS names, but the statement still needs a description of when and how the tools were used.)
- "ChatGPT helped write this paper." (Insufficient detail on use case)
- No disclosure when AI was used (publication-ethics violation)
Desk-screen risks we see before submission
For ES&T-targeted manuscripts, the patterns below are common AI-policy risk areas to check against the publisher's current guidance before submission.
AI disclosure missing despite obvious AI-assisted phrasing. Substantive AI-assisted drafting without a required disclosure can trigger an editorial query. Check whether your manuscript reads as AI-assisted
AI disclosure placed in the wrong manuscript location. ACS asks for AI disclosure in the Acknowledgments, with fuller detail in the Methods or another appropriate section for substantial use. A disclosure that appears only in the cover letter can create an avoidable submission query. Check whether your AI disclosure is in the right section
Generic disclosure language without tool name and version. ACS asks for a description of when and how the tools were used. Naming the tool and its version (or access date) makes that description checkable, and "AI tools were used" without specifics is unlikely to meet it. Check whether your AI disclosure has the required specificity
What is the ES&T AI-policy compliance timeline?
Stage | Duration | What happens |
|---|---|---|
Author drafts AI disclosure | 30-60 minutes | Identify all AI use, gather tool versions, write Methods paragraph |
Co-author review of disclosure | 1-2 days | All authors confirm the disclosure is complete and accurate |
Editorial desk-screen check | 1-2 weeks | ES&T's editorial team checks the disclosure against the manuscript when policy review is triggered |
Editorial query (if disclosure incomplete) | 5-10 days | Editor requests revision before sending to peer review |
Reviewer AI-disclosure check | During peer review | Reviewers verify the disclosure matches the manuscript style |
Source: Manusights internal review of ES&T-targeted submissions, 2025 cohort.
Submit If
- For Environmental Science & Technology (ACS) submissions on environmental science research: the manuscript documents substantive generative-AI use with the tool name, version or access date, specific use case, and disclosure location required by the current journal policy
- For ES&T: no AI tool is listed as an author; all listed authors meet authorship criteria and take responsibility for the final manuscript
- For Environmental Science & Technology (ACS): figures and schematics representing original research data come from the actual research, with any AI-assisted image or figure workflow checked against the current journal image policy
- For ES&T submissions: the disclosure makes clear that human authors reviewed the AI-assisted material and take responsibility for the final manuscript
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Think Twice If
- The manuscript contains substantive AI-assisted drafting but no disclosure; this can trigger an editorial query if the journal requires disclosure for that use case.
- The AI disclosure is placed in a section the current journal policy does not recognize.
- The disclosure language is generic without naming the tool, version or access date, and use case; journals may query or return manuscripts with this gap.
- Any figure, schematic, or image workflow used generative AI without being checked against the current journal image policy.
Manusights submission-corpus signal for Environmental Science & Technology (ACS).
Of the manuscripts our team screened before submission to ES&T and peer venues in 2025, the AI-policy compliance gap most consistent across the cohort is generic disclosure language without tool-version specificity. In our analysis of anonymized ES&T-targeted submissions, manuscripts with complete AI disclosure (tool name, version, specific use case, all-author confirmation) clear desk-screen at the same rate as manuscripts without AI use; manuscripts with incomplete or missing disclosure trigger editorial queries that add 1-2 weeks to the timeline.
Environmental Science & Technology (ACS) follows the publisher's public AI policy, but authors should verify the current journal page before submission because AI-use rules, disclosure locations, and image guidance continue to change.
What can ES&T authors do to stay ahead of AI policy changes?
ACS's AI policy framework continues to evolve as 2026 brings new ICMJE recommendations, COPE guidance refinements, and journal-specific clarifications. ES&T authors targeting environmental science research submissions should track three signals throughout 2026:
Policy updates from ACS. The publisher's public AI policy guidance is updated over time. ES&T authors who pre-register their disclosure language at submission time tend to face fewer revisions during the 2026 transition period than authors who write boilerplate disclosures.
Field-specific clarifications for environmental science research. Different research domains see different AI use patterns. ACS leaves the line between lighter and more substantial AI use to authors and editors: the default is disclosure in the Acknowledgments, with fuller Methods detail for more substantial use. Authors who err on the side of more disclosure rather than less avoid the publication-ethics gray zone.
Reviewer rules. ACS tells reviewers not to submit manuscript details, correspondence, or referee reports to AI tools. This is a confidentiality rule for reviewers, separate from the disclosure line for authors.
- Manusights internal preview corpus (2025 cohort)
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Frequently asked questions
Yes, with disclosure. Environmental Science & Technology (ACS) follows the ACS AI policy: the use of AI tools for text or image generation should be disclosed in the Acknowledgments with a description of when and how the tools were used, with full details in the Methods or another appropriate section for more substantial use. AI cannot be listed as an author, and the human authors are responsible for all submitted content.
Put the disclosure in the Acknowledgments, with a description of when and how the tools were used. For more substantial use, give full details in the Methods or another appropriate section. For graphics, add a brief description of AI use to the figure caption.
ACS does not ban AI-generated images outright, but it expects transparency. For graphics, a brief description of AI use should be included in the figure caption, and AI-generated images should not be used in Table of Contents graphics. Authors remain responsible for the accuracy of all submitted content.
ACS says all use of AI tools should be disclosed within the submission, and violations of the ACS Ethical Guidelines may lead to sanctions or rejection. Separately, an editor may decide that AI use is too extensive and reject the manuscript or request revision to remove or reduce AI-generated portions.
ES&T applies the publisher-wide ACS policy rather than a separate journal-specific one, and its author guidelines carry the same disclosure wording that ACS prints in every journal's guidelines. Other publishers can differ in disclosure location and rules.
Sources
- ACS AI policy (accessed 2026-10-08)
- ES&T author guidelines (accessed 2026-10-08)
- ICMJE recommendations on AI use (accessed 2026-05-08)
- COPE guidance on AI in research publication (accessed 2026-05-08)
Free guide
AI cannot be an author. None of the 49 policies we checked allows it.
Not a co-author, not an acknowledged contributor with a byline, not "with assistance from". What they do require is a disclosure, and the wording matters. The guide has the statement filled in, with what each publisher asks for beside it.
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