EDITORIAL

Fabricated Bibliographic Citations Generated by Artificial Intelligence in Scientific Research

Dr. Ernesto Bersusky

AAOT Journal Editor

The use of artificial intelligence (AI) is undoubtedly a valuable tool in the preparation of academic work. However, we are increasingly aware that one of its new risks is the generation of academic texts containing entirely fabricated or nonexistent bibliographic references.

These AI-generated texts often cite references that appear legitimate but are nonexistent. As a result, the content cannot be verified in databases or primary sources and therefore lacks scientific validity.

This represents a real threat to the credibility of science, as the problem is not only the falsified references but also the generated text itself, which may appear authentic.

We have identified this phenomenon in several manuscripts submitted to our journal. The use of AI is clearly regulated by the AAOT journal (see the Publications Guidelines section), and authors are required to disclose its use and ensure the accuracy and reliability of the text.

Literature searches before the advent of AI were often slow and tedious, and reviewing these texts frequently required considerable effort. With AI, this process can now be performed with a personal computer in almost no time. AI tools can extract and process information from scientific journals, databases, and books. Finally, the appeal of these tools is extremely strong, and authors may be tempted to use them in ways that are not acceptable.

The use of AI in scientific and technical writing has many advantages and a critical limitation: the accuracy of data and information. For this reason, every text must be carefully reviewed and edited by authors and subject-matter experts prior to publication or submission.

The Editorial Board of this journal monitors the use of AI through plagiarism and AI detection software and verifies all references.

In some cases, we have helped authors resolve these issues; in others, we have been forced to reject the manuscript.

We strongly recommend that authors:

1. Read and adhere to the Publications Guidelines and use AI in accordance with the instructions provided therein.

2. Carefully verify both the text and the references.

3. Share any ideas or suggestions with us to improve the ethical use of AI in research submitted to the journal.

4. This is a novel topic and we remain open to proposals within the limits established by international indexing services and databases.

Authors share responsibility with editors for the work that is published.

WORKS CONSULTED

- Walters WH, Wilder EI. Fabrication and errors in the bibliographic citations generated by ChatGPT. Scie Rep 2023;13:14045. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-41032-5

- Paz-Enrique LE. Citas fantasmas en artículos científicos: problemática creciente ante el uso de la inteligencia artificial. Rev Med Electron 2023;45(6). Available at: http://scielo.sld.cu/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1684-18242023000600892&lng=es

Dr. ERNESTO BERSUSKY • ebersusky@gmail.com • https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3121-9326

How to cite this article: Bersusky E. Fabricated Bibliographic Citations Generated by Artificial Intelligence in Scientific Research. Rev Asoc Argent Ortop Traumatol 2026;91(2):77-78. https://doi.org/10.15417/issn.1852-7434.2026.91.2.2329

Article Info

Identification: https://doi.org/10.15417/issn.1852-7434.2026.91.2.2329

Published: April, 2026

License: This article is under Attribution-NonCommertial-ShareAlike 4.0 International Creative Commons License (CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0).