More than half of researchers now use AI for peer review, often against guidance

Summary

Survey results suggest that peer reviewers are increasingly turning to AI.Credit: Panther Media Global/AlamyMore than 50% of researchers have used artificial intelligence while peer reviewing manuscripts, according to a survey of some 1,600 academics across 111 countries by the publishing company Frontiers.Nearly one-quarter of respondents said that they had increased their use of AI for peer review over the past year. The findings, posted on 11 December by the publisher, which is based in Lausanne, Switzerland, confirm what many researchers have long suspected, given the ubiquity of tools powered by large-language models such as ChatGPT.“It’s good to confront the reality that people are using AI in peer-review tasks,” says Elena Vicario, Frontiers’ director of research integrity. But the poll suggests that researchers are using AI in peer review “in contrast with a lot of external recommendations of not uploading manuscripts to third-party tools”, she adds.Source: Unlocking AI’s untapped potential, FrontiersSome publishers, including Frontiers, allow limited use of AI in peer review, but require reviewers to disclose it. Like most other publishers, Frontiers forbids reviewers from uploading unpublished manuscripts to chatbot websites because of concerns about confidentiality, sensitive data and compromising authors’ intellectual property. The survey report calls on publishers to respond to the growing use of AI across scientific publishing and implement policies that are better suited to the ‘new reality’. Frontiers itself has launched an in-house AI platform for peer reviewers across all of its journals. “AI should be used in peer review responsibly, with very clear guides, with human accountability and with the right training,” says Vicario.“We agree that publishers can and should proactively and robustly communicate best practices, particularly disclosure requirements that reinforce transparency to support responsible AI use,” says a spokesperson for the publish...