More than 200 Korean papers retracted over AI use

More than 200 academic papers in South Korea have been retracted over suspicions that artificial intelligence was improperly used to reproduce content from ChatGPT. Following a series of AI-assisted cheating cases at major universities, including Seoul National University, the recent confirmation of widespread AI-assisted paper-writing allegations has raised concerns about an emerging “AI-driven turmoil” in academia.

An analysis by The Dong-A Ilbo on Nov. 16, conducted with Kim Wan-jong, a senior researcher at the Data Service Center of the Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information (KISTI), drew on data from the paper retraction monitoring site Retraction Watch. The analysis found that since 2021, 204 papers from South Korean universities and research institutions had been retracted over suspected use of generative AI. This accounts for 14.3 percent of all retracted papers in the country since 1999. Paper retraction is a measure that invalidates a study when serious errors or breaches of research ethics are discovered.

The number of AI-suspected retractions was only nine before 2022, the year ChatGPT was publicly released, but has surged to 195 since 2023. Among these were papers published at major universities, including one at Seoul National University, two at Korea University, and one at Yonsei University. By academic discipline, 164 papers, or 80.4 percent, were in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, while 40 papers, or 19.6 percent, were in the humanities and social sciences, including business.

Of the 204 cases, 165 were classified as highly likely to have been produced by so-called paper mills using AI. Paper mills are companies that draft papers on behalf of researchers for fees ranging from several million to tens of millions of Korean won per paper. Separately from AI use, 51 papers were retracted solely due to suspected paper mill involvement.

Kim Wan-jong said, “As the use of AI becomes increasingly unavoidable in the paper-writing process, clear and detailed guidelines for its use are urgently needed.”


전남혁 기자 forward@donga.com