Publish or perish: Nearly 200 research papers are partly written by ChatGPT – Study

Dozens of research papers published across various academic journals were likely written, at least in part, by artificial intelligence, according to a new investigation.

An investigation by 404 Media, a tech journalism site, revealed that over 100 papers contained telltale signs of being written, at least partially, by ChatGPT, a popular language artificial intelligence.

The investigation identified that over 115 papers contained the phrase “As of my last knowledge update,” a telltale sign of AI-generated text often used by ChatGPT.

According to 404 Media, the dates in the papers containing the phrase matched the dates of actual ChatGPT knowledge updates.

Spinal injuries, battery technologies, rural medicine, bacterial infections, cryptocurrency, children’s health, and even artificial intelligence were among the topics covered in the papers.

The investigation also suggests that many of these AI-generated papers slipped through lax or nonexistent peer-review processes, particularly in for-profit journals.

Experts fear this infiltration could erode public trust in science and lead to the spread of misinformation.

“Paper mills” have long been a problem, churning out low-quality and plagiarised research for a fee. However, the ease and accessibility of AI tools like ChatGPT pose a new and potentially more widespread threat.

The journals publishing these fraudulent papers are often profit-driven, charging authors hefty processing fees to publish their articles that do not contain any new ideas, the study stated.

Some papers, like “Don’t Trust ChatGPT: A Case Study of a Defective Research Tool,” expose the dangers of relying on AI for research.

Even after removing any results containing the word ‘ChatGPT’, there are still 135 papers containing the odd phrase.

Some of these articles appear legitimate, while others are barely intelligible: ‘Global Education Iducation and International Education Advocacy’ is one such example of garbled titles.

Bellingcat researcher Kolina Koltai posted a screenshot of one academic paper on X where the researchers included ChatGPT’s cheery reply in their academic paper: ‘Certainly, here is a possible introduction for your topic.’

The study added that the International Journal of New Media Studies, for instance, has published two different papers containing the telltale phrase, ‘As of my last knowledge update.’

Despite claiming a rigorous peer-review process, the journal published papers containing the AI-generated phrase and promised publication within a suspiciously short timeframe—one to two days.

The journal charges authors for publication, DOI assignment, and even physical copies.

The study, however, revealed that the pressure to publish, a constant burden for academics seeking career advancement, is blamed as a contributing factor to this trend.

“Publish or perish,” an ominous phrase, is a harsh reality faced by some researchers who, under immense pressure from their institutions, may be tempted by the ease and speed of AI-generated papers.