Abstract
Journals and publishers are increasingly using artificial intelligence (AI) to screen submissions for potential misconduct, including plagiarism and data or image manipulation. While using AI can enhance the integrity of published manuscripts, it can also increase the risk of false/unsubstantiated allegations. Ambiguities related to journals’ and publishers’ responsibilities concerning fairness and transparency also raise ethical concerns. In this Topic Piece, we offer the following guidance: (1) All cases of suspected misconduct identified by AI tools should be carefully reviewed by humans to verify accuracy and ensure accountability; (2) Journals/publishers that use AI tools to detect misconduct should use only well-tested and reliable tools, remain vigilant concerning forms of misconduct that cannot be detected by these tools, and stay abreast of advancements in technology; (3) Journals/publishers should inform authors about irregularities identified by AI tools and give them a chance to respond before forwarding allegations to their institutions in accordance with Committee on Publication Ethics guidelines; (4) Journals/publishers that use AI tools to detect misconduct should screen all relevant submissions and not just random/purposefully selected submissions; and (5) Journals should inform authors about their definition of misconduct, their use of AI tools to detect misconduct, and their policies and procedures for responding to suspected cases of misconduct.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1-8 |
| Number of pages | 8 |
| Journal | Research Ethics |
| Volume | 21 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jan 2025 |
Funding
We thank the journal editor and two anonymous reviewers for their constructive and valuable feedback. We are also grateful for helpful comments from Ivan Oransky and Jennifer Wright. All articles in Research Ethics are published as open access. There are no submission charges and no Article Processing Charges as these are fully funded by institutions through Knowledge Unlatched, resulting in no direct charge to authors. For more information about Knowledge Unlatched please see here: http://www.knowledgeunlatched.org. Mohammad Hosseini was supported by the National Institutes of Health\u2019s National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (UL1TR001422). David Resnik was supported by the Intramural Program of the NIH. The funders have not played a role in the design, analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Mohammad Hosseini was supported by the National Institutes of Health\u2019s National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (UL1TR001422). David Resnik was supported by the Intramural Program of the NIH. The funders have not played a role in the design, analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Keywords
- Publication ethics
- artificial intelligence
- policy
- research misconduct
- transparency
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Education
- Philosophy