You ve probably heard of Chat GPT by now.
It is an AI chatbot that can generate computer code, college level essays, and even scholarly
articles.
I recently shared some of my thoughts about using Chat GPT in scientific writing.
Hi.
I m Karen McKee and in this video, I d like to look at how academic journals are responding
to the submission of manuscripts prepared with the aid of an AI tool such as Chat GPT.
As you will see, the response is not consistent and likely to evolve as more researchers use
AI tools to write their papers.
Here are author guidelines for Science and its family of journals.
Under the section Image and Text Integrity is a subsection called Artificial Intelligence.
The guidelines flatly say that AI-generated text or images cannot be used in papers published
in Science journals without explicit permission from the editors.
The guidelines further state that an AI program cannot be an author of a Science paper.
In case there is any doubt about how editors of Science journals view this issue, the last
sentence says that violation of this policy constitutes scientific misconduct.
Acknowledgement of this policy is documented when an author signs a license certifying
that the submitted work is original.
This Science editorial by H. Holden Thorpe further explains that Chat GPT text is not
acceptable and considered to be plagiarism.
It s plagiarism because the human author is presenting the work as their own when it was
partially or totally written by an AI.
Some academics have tried to get around the plagiarism issue by listing the AI as an author
or co-author of the paper.
But authorship by an AI is generally not possible because an AI cannot meet the publisher's
requirement that an author must be able to approve the final version of the work and
agree to its submission.
In other words, only a human can be an author.
Springer Nature journals have adopted a similar policy on AI authorship, summarized in this
editorial.
That no LLM or Large Language Model tool can be a credited author on a research paper.
However, Nature apparently will allow authors to use large language models, if its use is
disclosed in the paper.
Another major academic publisher, Elsevier, has a section on the use of AI in scientific
writing under duties of the author.
It specifies that AI technologies should be used only to improve readability and language
of the work,
And requires that the output should be overseen and carefully reviewed by the authors.
However, the policy prohibits listing an AI as an author or co-author for the reasons
mentioned earlier.
The Elsevier policy further states that use of AI tools must be disclosed in the manuscript.
Authors using AI tools are directed to insert a statement at the end of the paper just before
the references, and the publisher provides a template for it.
Wiley, another academic publisher, also prohibits AI authorship and requires the use of AI tools
to be described transparently and in detail in the methods or acknowledgements section.
This policy does not apply to tools used to improve spelling, grammar, and for general
editing.
So, it looks like some journal publishers will allow limited use of AI tools for polishing
the writing whereas others will not.
And there are still many journals that have not yet provided guidance on this issue.
But most seem to agree that an AI cannot be an author of a scientific paper.
Even if allowed, should you use Chat GPT or similar tool to craft your paper?
I think and this is only my opinion that tools such as Chat GPT can be helpful in some instances
to polish the wording of a paper, for example,
but presenting AI-generated text as your own is wrong and might have serious consequences.
To sum up, always check author guidelines posted on the journal or publisher s website
before using an AI tool to prepare your paper.
Follow any guidelines regarding AI use carefully.
If use of AI tools is prohibited, don t do it thinking no one will know.
It s likely that journals will run your manuscript through a plagiarism detector.
And they will likely use bot text detectors in the future.
If AI text is allowed, be very careful.
Always check the accuracy of information provided by an AI.
Don t assume that it's error free just because it sounds good.
Finally, here s what Chat GPT has to say about it.
Thanks for watching and don't forget to like this video if you found it helpful.