Fraudulent citations, blamed on AI hallucinations, are becoming more common in research papers

Citations in academic papers are intended to ground research in the work that preceded it, over time creating something of a family tree explaining the roots of ideas, protocols, and studies. But a growing number of these citations lead to dead ends. “Fabricated” citations that do not reference real papers are spreading in the literature, polluting the public record of science, a new study published Thursday in the Lancet shows. Tools using generative AI are likely to blame, say the Columbia University researchers who authored the paper.