AI-Fabricated Citations In Over 2,800 Biomedical Journal Articles

A Lancet correspondence reports that researchers found 4,046 fabricated references across 2,810 PubMed Central open-access biomedical papers from 2023 to early 2026.

The team used automated verification plus an AI model to separate honest citation mistakes from likely hallucinated references.

The rate of fabricated citations rose sharply over time, raising concerns that AI-assisted writing is introducing hidden errors into published research.

The findings matter because false citations can erode trust in biomedical literature and spread misleading evidence through the scientific record.