Journal Article: “Academic Journals’ AI Policies Fail to Curb the Surge in AI-Assisted Academic Writing”

The journal article linked below was published today by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

Title

Academic Journals’ AI Policies Fail to Curb the Surge in AI-Assisted Academic Writing

Authors

Yongyuan He
Peking University

Yi Bu
Peking University

Source

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS)
Vol. 123 | No. 9 (e2526734123)

Abstract

The rapid integration of generative AI into academic writing has prompted widespread policy responses from journals and publishers. However, the effectiveness of these policies remains unclear. Here, we analyze 5,114 journals and over 5.2 million papers to evaluate the real-world impact of AI usage guidelines. We show that despite 70% of journals adopting AI policies (primarily requiring disclosure), researchers’ use of AI writing tools has increased dramatically across disciplines, with no significant difference between journals with or without policies. Non-English-speaking countries, physical sciences, and high-OA journals exhibit the highest growth rates. Crucially, full-text analysis on 164 k scientific publications reveals a striking transparency gap: Of the 75 k papers published since 2023, only 76 (~0.1%) explicitly disclosed AI use. Our findings suggest that current policies have largely failed to promote transparency or restrain AI adoption. We urge a reevaluation of ethical frameworks to foster responsible AI integration in science.

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Note: Preprint Version of Article Available via arXiv

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