Abstract
<jats:p>This Groundwork offers background on the sIfA tool, an open source and free-to-use software tool that makes it easy to produce a sIfA (Statement of Intellectual Fellowship and Accountability). A sIfA is a machine-readable visual depiction of how humans and AI interacted in a particular piece of work to nourish a culture of reflection and transparency. The sIfA tool also produces a detailed AI contribution statement and can be easily customized for the needs of different processes. The sIfA tool is available here: www.busara.global and on GitHub at https://github.com/mareikeschomerus-ctrl/sIfA. While the sIfA tool itself also gives brief background explanations, this Groundwork situates sIfA in the broader debates on the changing nature of knowledge production due to AI, on AI contribution statements for publications, and on finding ways to support a culture of reflection, learning and transparency when it comes to producing research that seeks to be equitable and inclusive. The Groundwork first sets out a brief introduction and background to the current debates on human/ AI interaction in social science research. It explains our choice of terminology and the usage of the CRedIT taxonomy as a starting point for reflecting on human/ AI interaction in knowledge production. The Groundwork then outlines how to practically use the sIfA tool and gives some initial ideas and examples on how to think about the moment of human/ AI interaction in the different contributor roles during research. Through some practical steps set out in text boxes, we want to highlight how easy it is to use sIfA and to encourage a culture of reflexivity and openness about human/ AI interaction in research or other types of work that produce outputs with the ambition to nourish our collective learning. This Groundwork is the first in a series of outputs on Busara’s AI strategy developed by Busara’s Futures, Impact, Voice and Engagement (FIVE) division, which is being developed throughout 2026.</jats:p>