In a Public Radio International analysis, freelance writer Julia Franz investigates the use of artificial intelligence in science publishing's peer review process.
AI has proven useful when analyzing data, leading publishers to consider using the technology to combat issues like conflicts of interests, fabricated data and plagiarism. Although the manual peer review process already attempts to address these issues, AI can do so more quickly, according to Adam Marcus, co-founder of the science research watchdog blog "Retraction Watch."
"They can do, according to the researchers, in a nanosecond what a person might take 10 minutes to do," he said. This swiftness is becoming increasingly important as scientific articles proliferate. In 2014, there were 2.5 million scientific articles published in English, Ms. Franz noted.
However, those like Mr. Marcus emphasize that although AI can play a role in the peer review process, there should still be human oversight. This supervision allows for continued human judgment for what research is fit to be published, while also double-checking that algorithms are only filtering out papers with legitimate issues.
Click here to view the full analysis.