Expectations About AI Hallucinations in Research Citations

Generative AI Guidance released by the federal Office of Research Integrity (ORI) has determined that hallucinated references in the narrative sections of Research Records are outside ORI’s Statutory jurisdiction under 42 CFR Part 93. It would be inappropriate to interprete ORI’s guidance as a toleration of inaccuracies in Research Records (e.g., grant proposals, IRB applications, publications). Instead, ORI relies on federal funding agencies and individual institutions to address integrity concerns through local policies.

Because U Research applies the most rigorous standards of accountability in AI-use, hallucinated references and their corresponding claims are not outside the jurisdiction of the University Research Misconduct Policy (7-001). Hallucinated citations and inaccuracies in referenced statements in narrative sections of Research Records are a type of research data used to support the award, approval, and significance of the research project. U Research will not be funded, approved, published, or replicated based on false information. Any instances of fabricated and/or falsified references will be referred to the Research Integrity Officer (RIO) for assessment.