The Creative Integrity Policy defines members’ responsibilities to pursue creative activities in a way that upholds the values of Bravo Fleet, especially with regard to writing and multimedia. Creative Integrity is not merely the absence of cheating or plagiarism but a set of practices and values that center authenticity and transparency throughout the creative process. This concept is closely related to “academic integrity” but has been adapted here to suit the unique context of this organization. This policy provides further context for the Bravo Fleet Judicial Code, Section 6.

1.0 - Definitions

Broadly speaking, creative integrity in Bravo Fleet means that the work we submit to either the BFMS or the Bravo Fleet wiki is our own work. This policy makes the following assumptions:

General Intellectual Property Assumption: All content uploaded to the BFMS or the Bravo Fleet Wiki is either:
1. the sole intellectual property of the member(s) who have uploaded it; or,
2. intellectual property that members believe they have either a fair use claim to upload or the permission of the intellectual property holder.
Creative Writing Content Assumption: All creative writing content uploaded to the BFMS or the Bravo Fleet Wiki was written by the member(s) who have uploaded it without the assistance of generative artificial intelligence.
1. Creative writing content includes commands, personal units, characters, stories, missions, submissions to competitions, and wiki articles.
2. Spelling, style, and grammar checkers such as the ones built into Microsoft Word or standalone checkers such as Grammarly are not generative AI and their use is encouraged, but members must ensure they are not using any additional generative AI tools that may be bundled with these services.
Multimedia Content Assumption: Multimedia content uploaded to the BFMS or the Bravo Fleet Wiki is either created entirely by the member(s) who have uploaded it or:
1. If it is created with the assistance of generative AI, such assistance is limited to basic functional tasks such as background removal, subject selection, or object erasure, and not generative fill or text-to-image creation; or,
2. If it is created in full or in large part by generative AI, through text-to-image or image-to-image creation, the image has a citation with the model used and the nature of the generative AI use.
Plagiarism: Plagiarism is an offense under the Bravo Fleet Judicial Code, Section 6. A key aspect of creative integrity is avoiding plagiarism at all costs. Some degrees of plagiarism which would infringe on copyrights would also violate the Bravo Fleet Legal Policy. As defined by Oxford University:
“[p]lagiarism is presenting someone else’s work or ideas as your own, with or without their consent, by incorporating it into your work without full acknowledgement. All published and unpublished material, whether in manuscript, printed or electronic form, is covered under this definition. Plagiarism may be intentional or reckless, or unintentional.”
For more information, consult the Plagiarism Guide.
1. Scope of this Policy—This policy does not infringe on the Bravo Fleet Judge Advocate General's discretion to determine the full scope of what plagiarism might entail but serves as guidance for members and staff on how to avoid and/or address plagiarism concerns from the standpoint of creative endeavors.
2. Member Concerns—Members with concerns about plagiarism should direct their concerns through their chain of command, as per the Judicial Code.
3. Deletion of Plagiarized Content—Content identified as plagiarism may be deleted by the Bravo Fleet Intelligence Officer or Bravo Fleet Engineering Officer. This content will be saved and referred to the Bravo Fleet Judge Advocate General.
4. Self-Identification of Plagiarism—Members who inadvertently plagiarize and later become aware of it should seek guidance from their chain of command on how to correct their error or have the content removed.
5. Using Fleet-Written Text—While content produced by the Intelligence Office, Science Office, and other members of the fleet’s staff is intended to inspire your writing and ground our shared universe, it is not acceptable to copy-and-paste text from this content into member-written creative writing, including on the wiki, as this would be plagiarism. Consider whether you absolutely need to have similar content when a link might suffice. Otherwise, you should paraphrase (put the text in your own words) and link to the original.

2.0 - General Intellectual Property

Members should consult the Bravo Fleet Legal Policy for more information on their rights and responsibilities related to intellectual property. For the purposes of creative integrity, the most important facet of this policy to highlight is that you have a duty to ensure that what you are uploading to any of our services is either your own work or work you have appropriate permission to upload.

3.0 - Creative Writing

In Bravo Fleet, creative writing is one of our widest-reaching activities, representing a large amount of our total cumulative activity ribbons across solo and group writing. We take pride in the sheer number of words we have written collectively and the strength of our shared universe. To maintain this pride, it is essential that members act with integrity while engaging in creative writing. Simply put, why should something be read if the author didn’t even bother to write it?

Defining Creative Writing: Creative writing is any writing done on any of these page types: a command, a mission, a personal unit, a character, a wiki article, a story, or a competition entry. If you have a question about what constitutes creative writing, you should consult with your task force staff, who will direct your query to the appropriate place in the chain of command.
Ban on Generative Artificial Intelligence: Generative Artificial Intelligence is any tool that creates new text through a user’s prompt, which can take the form of a direct set of instructions (“write me a story about the Borg”) or by putting in something the user has already started and asking to expand or enhance that input (“expand this story I started about the Borg”). Generative Artificial Intelligence is not allowed in the composition of any creative writing in Bravo Fleet, regardless of specific application.
1. Examples of Generative Artificial Intelligence Tools: ChatGPT, Claude, Bard, Mistral, Command R+, Apple Intelligence’s Writing Tools, and Copilot are just some examples of Generative Artificial Intelligence, but it is not possible to create a comprehensive list of these tools. If you can chat with it and it makes text for you, or it summarizes or reorganizes whole paragraphs, it’s likely generative AI, and you should consult with your task force staff before using it for creative writing.
Writing Assistance Tools: Writing assistance tools are used to correct spelling, grammar, and minor style issues in your writing. They use machine learning rather than generative artificial intelligence. They offer individual suggestions that users must accept or reject rather than fixing an entire document all at once. Use of these tools is encouraged, and they include Microsoft Word’s Editor and Grammarly. Beware: many such tools also include generative artificial intelligence-powered features, which include things like summarize, “change the tone,” and other functions that go beyond merely correcting your writing but adding in new content. When in doubt about whether a tool is acceptable, ask.
1. Ban on Using Generative AI for Writing Assistance: Strictly speaking, with the correct prompting, one could use Generative AI tools to get the same effect as writing assistance tools can provide, such as doing spelling and grammar checks. This policy acknowledges that this functionality exists, but this use of Generative AI (as with all uses of generative AI for creative writing) is not allowed.
Generative Artificial Intelligence for Brainstorming: It is permitted to use Generative AI tools for brainstorming and planning purposes. Examples include asking for possible story ideas, creating outlines, or helping figure out what should happen next in a story. Any creative writing that emerges from this use must be a member’s own words, and nothing that AI generates should appear directly in a member’s writing. This practice is described in detail in the Intelligence Office’s Guide: Generative AI in Your Writing.
Ban on Generative Artificial Intelligence for Commenting: It is not permitted to use generative artificial intelligence to create comments on stories.
Authorship on the BFMS: Any members who contributed to a piece of writing on the BFMS must be credited on that post by attaching one of their characters. If non-members participated in writing a post, it may not be published until the non-member has created an account and has a character to attach.

4.0 - Multimedia Content

Multimedia content (images, videos, audio, or composite media) uploaded to the BFMS or wiki must either be a member’s own intellectual property, content which is fair use or public domain, or others’ intellectual property that they have permission to use. Members should be judicious in using AI-generated content, given its ability to create massive amounts of very large images, which are deleterious both to system resources and to the BFMS and Wiki’s overall appearance.

Generative AI for Multimedia: Generative AI can be used in multimedia in a number of different ways, breaking along two clear paths: the use of tools powered by Generative AI to accomplish simple tasks in editing software (removing backgrounds, touching up edges, sharpening and zooming) and tools that create visuals from either a text prompt or an image prompt.
Generative AI-Powered Editing Tools: In editing applications, including Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign, there are now advanced editing tools that are powered by generative AI but do not create new visuals from scratch. These include background removal, Neural Filters (Super Zoom, Style Transfer), the remove tool for blemishes or unwanted objects, and other enhancements to the “normal” workflow of the app. Using these tools is permitted and does not need to be cited.
Text-to-Image Generation: Any use of AI text-to-image tools (where a user prompts an AI with words that it uses to create an image) must be acknowledged in the credits of the image, either on the BFMS or on the Wiki, with the model/platform used and the use-case. This includes any use of text-to-image generation within a large composite for major graphical components beyond simple touch-ups.
1. Fully AI-Generated Image Example Caption: “This image was created entirely by Firefly.”
2. Partially AI-Generated Image Example Caption: “The subject in this image was created by Firefly and then edited by the user into a Starfleet uniform.”
Image-to-Image Generation: Any use of AI image-to-image tools (where a user supplies an AI with an image and then asks for a similar image to be generated) must be acknowledged in the credits of the image, either on the BFMS or on the wiki, with the model/platform used, the use-case, and the credit of the original image used. Note: if you do not have permission to use the original image or the original image is marked as “do not train” or “no AI,” you cannot use it for image-to-image generation.
1. Fully AI-Generated Image from Image Example Caption: “This image was created entirely by Firefly using [Image Name here] by [Author here] as a base for image-to-image transformation.”
Intellectual Property, Ethics, and Generative AI: Members have a responsibility to be cautious about infringing on the intellectual property of others in their creation of AI images. For example, asking a tool to create images that purposefully resemble specific people or a specific trademark or copyrighted subject falls into a legal and ethical gray area. Members should consider using tools that provide indemnification or that are trained to operate with higher standards of respect for copyright where possible.
Appropriate Use of Fleet Resources: Members must consider carefully the storage impact of uploading a large number of AI-generated images to fleet services. Over-uploading of multiple AI images may result in them being deleted from the system.
1. Character Primary Image Size: Because of the way the BFMS automatically resizes images to fit the circular frames on the character pages and command pages, it is unnecessary to upload any primary image larger than 500x500. 300x300 is more than sufficient in most cases. Excessively large images may be deleted at the discretion of the Bravo Fleet Engineering Officer.
2. Ban on AI Images in Galleries: AI-generated images are not allowed in characters’ gallery fields other than the primary image, which can be set to appear in both the primary image area and the gallery. This is to preserve system resources and to discourage the creation of blank characters that have a large number of AI-generated images. As a matter of course, AI-generated gallery images will be deleted from the BFMS.

5.0 - Competition Submissions

Competition submissions must follow the rules listed for each competition and are presumed to be a member’s own work. Generative Artificial Intelligence is not allowed in competition submissions.

6.0 - Academy Submissions

All Bravo Fleet Academy work is expected to be a member’s own work. Generative Artificial Intelligence is not allowed in submissions to any Bravo Fleet Academy assignment, quiz, or task.