AI-generated Academic Articles: Generative AI Floods Academic Journals with Sham Articles
In a strange twist, generative AI algorithms have permeated the respected halls of academia, engulfing scholarly journals with an avalanche of counterfeit articles. The occurrence was recently exposed by assistant professors Tomasz Żuradzk and Leszek Wroński. It sheds light on the weaknesses within the academic publishing ecosystem.
Here are the key points:
The Culprit: AI Text Generators
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- These AI systems, powered by large-scale language models, whip up articles that imitate scholarly discourse. They employ a template filled with buzzwords, ranging from “blockchain” and “metaverse” to “internet of things” and “deep learning.”
- The result? A seemingly authentic article that confuses readers and reviewers alike.
The Journals in Question
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- The limelight falls on three journals published by Addleton Academic Publishers. These journals, namely the Journal of Computational Intelligence, Advances in Data Science, and International Journal of Quantum Computing, consist entirely of AI-generated content.
- Interestedly, the editorial boards include ten deceased members, raising eyebrows about the precision of the peer review process.
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Manipulating Research Evaluation Metrics
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- The real concern lies in how these fake journals influence researchers’ careers. Evaluation metrics like CiteScore, which rank journals based on citations, unintentionally elevate these AI-generated publications.
- Researchers who unwittingly cite these articles may unknowingly boost their own scores, affecting funding, promotions, and tenure decisions.
Cross-Citation Shenanigans
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- The journals cross-cite each other widely, creating a web of artificial legitimacy. As a result, they achieve high CiteScores, despite their lack of genuine influence.
- This influence destabilizes the honesty of research evaluation systems and threatens the livelihoods of academics.
Addressing the Issue
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- Academics, publishers, and institutions must act as a team to identify and flag AI-generated content. Severe peer review processes and manual checks are essential.
- Researchers should exercise caution when citing articles from lesser-known journals, especially those with suspicious editorial boards.
In conclusion, the battle against AI-generated academic spam requires caution, transparency, and a commitment to maintaining the integrity of scholarly dissertation. As the lines blur between human-authored and AI-generated content, the academic community faces a new limit—one where judgment is dominant.
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