c/science · by technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 177d

Librarian finds ‘preposterous number’ of fake references in paper from Springer Nature journal

https://retractionwatch.com/2026/03/06/librarian-finds-preposterous-number-of-fake-references-in-paper-from-springer-nature-journal/

Fake references make Waite’s job as a librarian “so much harder,” she added.

“I expect this on the wider internet, but not in reputable scientific journals,” she told us. “This is a problem both for the information literacy teaching and the clinical literature searching I do to inform evidence-based practice in my hospital. It’s really worrying.”

122 points · 4 comments · view on lemmy.world

4 Comments

UnspecificGravity@piefed.social · 30 pts · 177d (1 reply)

Isn't the ENTIRE purpose of a scientific journal to do this due diligence before publishing?

surewhynotlem@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 177d

Only if they care about their reputation

rowrowrowyourboat@sh.itjust.works · 7 pts · 177d (1 reply)

And what's the solution? More AI!!

Hallucinated references are an area the publisher is “actively exploring,” added Chris Graf, research integrity director for Springer Nature. Last April, the publisher announced the launch of a new in-house AI tool to check submissions for irrelevant references.

reabsorbthelight@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 177d

You know. They could just looks up the doi.

But you're right MORE AI