Why ICB is starting this new initiative. As more authors are using generative AI such as ChatGPT and other large-language model tools to edit their manuscripts, reference lists are containing an increasing number of errors, from mere typos and omissions to entirely fabricated citations (1-6).  Fabricated references not only cause dead-end searches; they are entering citation data bases and are thereby corroding scientific integrity.  ICB is dedicated to maintaining publication integrity by ensuring that all references published in ICB are cited correctly and do in fact exist.

References

1. Chelli M, Descamps J, Lavoué V, Trojani C, Azar M, Deckert M, Raynier J, Clowez G, Boileau P, Ruetsch-Chelli C. Hallucination Rates and Reference Accuracy of ChatGPT and Bard for Systematic Reviews: Comparative Analysis. J Med Internet Res 2024;26:e53164. URL: https://www.jmir.org/2024/1/e53164  DOI: 10.2196/53164

2. Athaluri, S. A. et al. Exploring the boundaries of reality: investigating the phenomenon of artificial intelligence hallucination in scientific writing through ChatGPT references. Cureus 15, e37432 (2023).

3. Bhattacharyya, M., Miller, V. M., Bhattacharyya, D. & Miller, L. E. High rates of fabricated and inaccurate references in ChatGPT-Generated medical content. Cureus 15, e39238 (2023).

4. McGowan, A. et al. ChatGPT and Bard exhibit spontaneous citation fabrication during psychiatry literature search. Psychiatry Res. 326, 115334 (2023).

5. Emsley, Robin. "ChatGPT: these are not hallucinations–they’re fabrications and falsifications." Schizophrenia 9, no. 1 (2023): 52.

Skills you need. This position requires high ethical standards and the ability to look up articles on the internet, tracing each article to the journal that published it.  This position does not require access to paywalled content and does not require deep content expertise.  

What you get out of it. Publication Integrity Reviewers are members of the ICB editorial board. As such, their names and affiliation will be listed in the front matter of ICB. Publication Integrity Reviewers are appointed by the editor of ICB in consultation with the ICB editorial board.  Appointments are for one year and may be renewed.

What you will do. Publication Integrity Reviewers will handle five to ten manuscripts as part the first round of peer reviews. The Publication Integrity Reviewer will create a publication integrity report, identifying any citations in the reference list that contain errors and reporting the type of error (such as ‘typo’, ‘missing information’, ‘reference cannot be found’).

To ensure that citations are correct, Publication Integrity Reviewers will access each cited article through the website of the journal that published the article in question. It is not sufficient to merely check that an article is listed in a citation database, such as Web of Science or Google Scholar, or posted on academic networking sites, such as ResearchGate. By accessing each article on the journal website directly, Publication Integrity Reviewers ensure that articles do in fact exist and are cited correctly (author names and order, title, journal name, volume, issue, page numbers). Checking this information does not require access to pay-walled content, such as the full article text.

Publication Integrity Reviewers will be provided by ICB with training and a template form for their Publication Integrity Review.

• • What you will do. Publication Integrity Reviewers will handle roughly five manuscripts as part the first round of peer reviews. The Publication Integrity Reviewer will create a publication integrity report, identifying any citations in the reference list that contain errors and reporting the type of error (such as ‘typo’, ‘missing information’, ‘reference cannot be found’).

  • To ensure that citations are correct, Publication Integrity Reviewers will access each cited article through the website of the journal that published the article in question. It is not sufficient to merely check that an article is listed in a citation database, such as Web of Science or Google Scholar, or posted on academic networking sites, such as ResearchGate. By accessing each article on the journal website directly, Publication Integrity Reviewers ensure that articles do in fact exist and are cited correctly (author names and order, title, journal name, volume, issue, page numbers). Checking this information does not require access to pay-walled content, such as the full article text.

  • Publication Integrity Reviewers will be provided by ICB with training and a template form for their Publication Integrity Review.

This manuscript’s reference list contains [insert number of citations] citations, and of those [insert number of citations containing errors] contain errors.  [select the suitable phrase summarizing the report from the options below]

• [option 1: manuscripts with only minor errors] This manuscript’s reference list contains a few minor errors, which require correction.

• [option 2: manuscripts with errors that affect discoverability] This manuscript’s reference list contains errors, and some might affect the discoverability of the cited article.  Below are the errors identified by the Publication Integrity Reviewer.  Please review your entire list of references carefully because this report may not have identified all issues.

• [option 3: manuscripts with errors that raise concerns about publication integrity] This manuscript’s reference list contains errors, including errors that might negatively affect publication integrity.  Below are the errors identified by the Publication Integrity Reviewer.  Please review your entire list of references carefully because this report may not have identified all issues. The type of error found in this manuscript raises concerns that its reference list may have been edited using generative AI tools, such as ChatGPT or other LLMs. ICB requires authors to declare the use of AI tools. All modifications suggested by generative AI tools must undergo meticulous evaluation and approval by the authors to ensure accuracy and clarity.  To maintain publication integrity, generative AI tools should not be used for bibliographic reference retrieval or formatting. ICB may reject manuscripts that use generative AI to generate or edit text or visual elements of the manuscript, even when such use is disclosed, if the editors have substantial concerns about publication integrity.

The following errors occurred and must be corrected: 

[list all references that contain errors, name the type of error; select type from the list below]

• minor errors 

  • [spelling error] 

  • [incorrect formatting of citation]

  • [omission unlikely to affect discoverability] such as missing issue number, page number

• major errors

  • [omission likely to affect discoverability] such as missing volume number, year

  • [omission that distorts the scientific record] such as missing author name, partial title, partial journal name

• errors that raise integrity concerns

  • [citation does not exist] such as combination of authors, title, journal does not exist; fabricated journal, fabricated title

Tips for writing your review

• list all references that contain errors

• point out the type of error, but do not make suggestions for how to fix them

• use the review template and delete the elements that don't apply and complete the information specific to your manuscript

Use of generative AI in scholarly writing

ICB requires authors to declare the use of AI tools. All modifications suggested by generative AI tools must undergo meticulous evaluation and approval by the authors to ensure accuracy and clarity.  To maintain publication integrity, generative AI tools should not be used for bibliographic reference retrieval or formatting. ICB may reject manuscripts that use generative AI to generate or edit text or visual elements of the manuscript, even when such use is disclosed, if the editors have substantial concerns about publication integrity.