Updated 4/10/2026
Readers can trust that UNC Press books and journal articles are the original work of our authors. The Press does not consider AI-generated content such as text from large language models to meet the standard of authorship and does not accept it for publication. If there are visual or text elements within a work that are AI-generated, they will be clearly cited as such. More information for authors about AI use can be found under For Prospective Authors.
The Press has a close partnership with the Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture at William & Mary which has adopted similar policies that are outlined on their website. Through our journals program we collaborate with many societies and universities, and while we do not control their policies, they are generally in close alignment with our own. More information about journals and AI use can be found under our Publication Ethics and Malpractice Statement. The Press distributes books for many organizations and often advises them on AI policies. Details for distributed partners’ policies is available upon request.
Peer Review
Peer review is central to our publishing process and integral to our mission. The Press generally does not allow peer reviewers to use AI tools to evaluate projects or to create reports.
Use of Content by AI Organizations
The Press does not currently allow AI companies or other third parties to use its content for the purposes of AI training or to be licensed for use in AI platforms. Like many publishers, our content has been used without permission, such as in the recent case of Anthropic, and we are working to address these situations. We are in conversations with some of our trusted partners as they work to develop responsible AI programs. Should any emerge that we feel confident about participating in, our approach will be to first seek author approval.
Use of AI by Freelancers and Vendor Partners
The term AI can mean many things to many people. While we are committed to not use AI for our core publishing work, we acknowledge that there are some useful and practical applications. Our partners at Project MUSE use AI to create alt text for older content, making many thousands of books and journals accessible for readers with visual impairments when it would otherwise not be feasible. We have worked with freelancers who use AI-generated images within their own compelling cover designs. As stated above, if there are visual or text elements within a work that are AI-generated, they will be clearly cited as such. The Press will continue to carefully evaluate the use of AI applications across its network of partners and determine if it is appropriate for our work.