A Preliminary Investigation of Fake Peer-Reviewed Citations and References Generated by ChatGPT

Abstract

An analysis of academic citations and references generated by the ChatGPT artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot reveals the citations and references are in fact, fake. They are clearly generated by a predictive process rather than known facts. This suggests that early optimism regarding this technology for assisting in research could be misplaced, and that student misuse of the chatbot can be detected by the identification of fake citations and references. Despite these problems, the technology could have application in the writing of course materials for lower level undergraduate courses that do not necessarily require references. Subject matter expertise is required, however, to identify and remove incorrect information. The need to identify incorrect information provided by an AI chatbot is a skill that students will also increasingly need.