--- title: "Scientists Caught Generating “Academic Papers” Using ChatGPT" description: "Academic journals have been caught publishing papers that were clearly written by ChatGPT — and at least one has yet to retract." date: "2024-03-20" modified: "2024-03-20" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/scientists-papers-ai" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" - "OpenAI" tags: - "academia" - "chatgpt" - "science" - "the digest" --- # Scientists Caught Generating “Academic Papers” Using ChatGPT ![Academic journals have been caught publishing papers that were clearly written by ChatGPT — and at least one has yet to retract.]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* ## AIvory Tower With those AI-generated images of a [supersized rat dick]() and now with papers blatantly written by ChatGPT or other chatbots, the academic community clearly has a huge AI problem. As [*404 Media* reports](), AI-generated papers are being passed off not only in low-quality academic journals, but in some reputable ones as well — highlighting not only the increasing prevalence of AI, but also of existing issues about quality, admissions standards, and pay-to-play business structures in academia as well. Over the past few weeks, researchers have taken to X-formerly-Twitter to showcase the problem, which is easily revealed by searching Google Scholar, the search giant's journal database, for giveaway phrases like "As of my last knowledge update" and "I don't have access to real-time data." In one post by the blog [*Life After My Ph.D.*](), numerous papers with the phrases were apparent. https://twitter.com/LifeAfterMyPhD/status/1769620224461189336 ## Mixed Bag When looking through the journals highlighted by the blogger, it appears that some are predatory, as folks in academia call journals that will [publish just about anything]() [for the right amount of money]() — but others, it seems, aren't as clearly full of crap. As *404* notes, at least one paper seems to be so blatantly copy-pasted from a chatbot that the people who submitted it to the respected chemistry journal *Surfaces and Interfaces*, which [published the article]() after peer review, didn't even take out the chatbot's introduction. Posted by [*Bellingcat* researcher Kolina Koltai](), a screenshot of the paper, titled "The three-dimensional porous mesh structure of Cu-based metal-organic-framework - aramid cellulose separator enhances the electrochemical performance of lithium metal anode batteries," includes in its introduction the phrase "Certainly, here is a possible introduction for your topic," which sounds a whole lot like an algorithmically-polite response to an AI prompt if there ever was one. In an interview with *404*'s Emanuel Maiberg, journal editor and Boston College physics professor Michael J. Naughton that the publication is "addressing" the paper, which as of press time is still up on the medical journal database ScienceDirect where *Surfaces and Interfaces* lives. When *Futurism* did a similar search on Google Scholar, the journal database returned some results that seemed primarily to either be [using the OpenAI chatbot]() as a "[co-author]()" or were otherwise [demonstrating its failings]() as a research and writing tool **—** but a lot of other material where it seems almost certain that academics lazily used AI to cook up verbiage. The presence of these papers, especially at respectable journals, seems to signal that AI has infiltrated academia even more fully than we already thought — and until journals start enforcing their own standards, it will keep muddying the waters of what are supposed to be our culture's bastions of intellect. **More on chatbots:** [*Lazy High School Teachers Using ChatGPT for Grading*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()