Policy on payment, AI, and more

Policy on Payment, AI, and more

These policies apply to submissions, accepted work, published pieces, visual materials, and contributor participation in The Good Companion.

Contributor Payment

At this launch stage, accepted work is unpaid, and there are no submission fees.

Our goal is to introduce contributor honoraria as the journal grows through readership, partnerships, sponsorships, grants, and aligned support.

Published contributors will be credited and may be featured across Pet Lore’s social media channels. Contributors may also receive personalized sharing assets to help promote their work on their own websites, portfolios, newsletters, and social platforms.

Rights & Permissions

Contributors retain copyright to their work. By submitting and accepting publication, contributors grant The Good Companion permission to publish accepted work online as part of the journal and related issue materials.

This may include publication on the Pet Lore website, issue pages, contributor pages, newsletters, social media posts, promotional graphics, and other materials directly related to the issue or the contributor’s published work.

Contributors will be credited for their work. Any additional uses beyond normal journal publication and promotion will be discussed with the contributor.

AI Policy

The Good Companion allows thoughtful, limited AI assistance in the writing and editorial process, but published work must remain grounded in the contributor’s own voice, experience, research, judgment, and creative direction.

Acceptable uses of AI may include:

brainstorming ideas
developing an outline
organizing notes
proofreading
grammar and clarity support
light editing assistance
summarizing your own research notes
generating draft questions for interviews or reflection

AI should not replace the contributor’s voice, lived experience, reporting, memory, research, or original thinking.

Submissions that appear substantially AI-generated, generic, unverifiable, or dependent on AI-generated language may be declined or returned for revision. The editor is experienced in AI-assisted writing and editorial review and may ask follow-up questions if a submission appears to rely too heavily on AI rather than the contributor’s own perspective.

Contributors may be asked to disclose meaningful AI assistance, especially if AI was used beyond basic proofreading, outlining, or editing support.

AI and Images

AI-generated images are not accepted for cover art.

Cover art must be original visual work created by the artist, such as painting, drawing, illustration, photography, collage, mixed media, or digital art.

AI may be considered for limited helper visuals such as diagrams, simple explanatory graphics, or non-cover support images, but these must be clearly disclosed and should not misrepresent real people, real animals, service animal teams, medical situations, events, research findings, or lived experiences.

AI-generated images should never be used to fabricate documentary evidence, falsely represent a real animal or person, or imply that something happened when it did not.

Accuracy & Sources

Research-informed pieces should be grounded in credible sources, professional knowledge, lived experience, or clearly explained observation.

Contributors should provide links, citations, footnotes, endnotes, or a short source list where appropriate.

Claims involving medicine, psychology, animal behavior, disability, public policy, legal access, training standards, or animal welfare may receive additional editorial or advisor review.

Edits & Contributor Review

The Good Companion may make minor edits for grammar, spelling, punctuation, formatting, clarity, style, and consistency. Major edits will be discussed with the contributor before publication. Meaningful changes to structure, tone, interpretation, sensitive details, or factual framing will not be published without contributor review and approval.

Sensitive Stories

We welcome emotionally honest work, including stories involving grief, disability, medical care, service animals, family, trauma, or loss.

However, contributors should take care not to disclose private or identifying information about other people without permission. Stories involving vulnerable people, children, private medical details, or sensitive family circumstances may require additional review, anonymization, or revision before publication.

The journal may decline or request changes to work that feels exploitative, unsafe, misleading, unnecessarily graphic, or insufficiently respectful of the people or animals involved.

Corrections & Updates

If a factual error is identified after publication, The Good Companion may correct the piece and add an update note when appropriate. Contributors may contact the editor if they notice an error, need to clarify a detail, or have concerns about how their work appears after publication.

Removal Requests

Because published work becomes part of an issue, removal requests will be considered on a case-by-case basis. If a contributor has a serious concern involving safety, privacy, consent, misidentification, sensitive personal information, or changed circumstances, they may contact the editor to discuss possible corrections, edits, anonymization, or removal.

Contact

For questions about submissions, permissions, AI use, editorial review, or contributor policies, please contact: info@petlore.org

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