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Understanding fake & AI-generated citations
Short, plain-language guides to a problem now affecting the scientific record at scale. Start here, then see exactly how verification works.
What is a hallucinated (fake) citation?
The difference between a sloppy reference and a fabricated one — and why AI made the second kind common.
Read →Why does ChatGPT invent references?
How language models produce confident, well-formatted citations to papers that never existed.
Read →How to check whether a citation is real
A practical checklist for verifying a reference by hand — and where a tool saves you time.
Read →DOI hijacking, explained
When a real-looking DOI quietly points to a different paper — the error most checks miss.
Read →For editors & reviewers: spotting AI fabrications
Fast signals that a submitted manuscript contains invented references.
Read →Are AI-fabricated citations a problem in medicine?
Why fabricated references are especially risky in clinical and biomedical writing.
Read →Retractions vs. fake citations: what’s the difference?
A retracted paper is real but withdrawn; a fake one never existed. Different problems, different fixes.
Read →