A surge in AI-generated hallucinated citations has infiltrated scientific literature, with over 146,000 fabricated references appearing in 2025 alone. Studies reveal these fake citations are bypassing peer review and appearing in published journals, disproportionately affecting less experienced authors and solo researchers. Safeguards are proving inadequate, raising concerns about the integrity of scientific records.

A Columbia researcher who studies AI nearly published a study with a hallucinated reference himself. He's not alone.

A surge in AI-generated hallucinated citations has infiltrated scientific literature, with over 146,000 fabricated references appearing in 2025 alone. Studies reveal these fake…

An audit of 2.5 million biomedical papers by Columbia University and other institutions shows that the rate of fabricated references has increased more than twelvefold since 2023.…