Q. What are artificial intelligence "hallucination" sources?

What are AI‑generated or “hallucinated” sources?

AI‑generated or hallucinated sources are citations that look legitimate—they may include a realistic article title, author names, journal titles, volume/issue numbers, page ranges, and even a DOI—but do not actually exist. They are created by artificial intelligence systems when generating text, particularly for tasks such as literature reviews, bibliographies, or annotated references.

These citations are not intentionally deceptive. Rather, they are a byproduct of how large language models generate language.

Why do AI tools generate non‑existent citations?

AI systems that generate text (such as large language models) do not search databases in real time unless explicitly designed to do so. Instead, they:

• Learn patterns from vast amounts of existing text
• Predict what usually comes next in a sentence
• Attempt to produce output that sounds plausible and scholarly

When asked to provide citations, the AI may:

• Combine real journal titles with plausible-sounding article titles
• Associate well-known scholars with topics they often write about
• Invent publication details that follow common academic formats

The result is a citation that appears correct but lacks a corresponding publication.

Are the authors or journals ever real?

Yes—this is one of the most confusing aspects of AI‑generated citations.

Sometimes:

• The journal is real, but the cited article was never published there
• The author is real, but they did not write an article with that title
• The author and journal are both real, but the article, volume, issue, or page numbers are incorrect

Because parts of the citation may be accurate, users may assume the entire citation is legitimate when it is not.

Why is this a problem for students and researchers?

Using a hallucinated source can:

• Undermine academic credibility
• Lead to failed verification by instructors, editors, or reviewers
• Result in lost time trying to locate a non-existent article
• Raise concerns about academic integrity, even when the error was unintentional

For these reasons, all AI‑generated citations must be verified before being used in academic work.

How can I check whether a citation is real using Google Scholar?

Google Scholar is one of the easiest tools for verifying citations. Follow these steps:

1. Go to Google Scholar
2. Copy and paste the exact article title into the search bar (enclose the title in quotation marks)
3. Review the search results

If the citation is real, you will typically see:

• The article listed with the same title
• Matching author names
• A journal name and publication year
• Links to publisher pages, PDFs, or library records

If no results appear, try:

• Omitting the subtitle if there is one
• Searching by author name only
• Searching by journal title and keywords from the article title

If the article still does not appear, it is likely a hallucination.

What if Google Scholar shows the author or journal but not the article title?

This is a common sign of an AI‑generated citation.

For example:

• The author may appear frequently in Scholar results
• The journal may exist and publish in that subject area
• But the specific article title does not appear anywhere

In such cases, the citation is almost certainly incorrect or fabricated.

How can I use a DOI to verify a citation?

If a citation includes a DOI (Digital Object Identifier), you should always verify it.

Steps:

1. Copy the DOI exactly as written
2. Paste it into a DOI resolver (for example, by appending it to https://doi.org/)
3. Check whether the DOI resolves to a real publication

A valid DOI should:

• Lead to a publisher’s page or official record
• Display the same article title, author(s), and journal name as the citation

If the DOI:

• Does not resolve at all, or
• Resolves to a different article than the one cited

Then the citation is incorrect or hallucinated.

Can a citation be partially correct but still unusable?

Yes. A citation may contain:

• A real DOI paired with the wrong title
• A real author paired with the wrong journal
• A real journal paired with invented volume and page numbers

Even partial inaccuracies make a citation unreliable. Academic work requires fully accurate and verifiable sources.

What should I do if I discover a hallucinated source?

If you identify a citation that does not exist:

• Do not use it in your paper or project
• Remove it from your reference list
• Locate a real, verifiable source that supports your claim
• Ask a librarian for help finding peer-reviewed alternatives
• Don’t ask AI tools to generate sources

Academic integrity and responsibility for your sources

Submitting a paper that includes in-text citations or footnotes to hallucinated (non-existent) sources makes it clear that the text was not written independently by the student. You should only cite sources that you have actually obtained and read. If a source does not exist, it could not possibly have been read, and its inclusion is clear evidence that the work does not reflect genuine research or authorship. In addition, responsible scholarship requires reading the entire source you are citing—not just the abstract. Having access only to an abstract, summary, or citation record is not sufficient grounds to cite a work in an academic paper. Citations signal direct engagement with the full text, arguments, evidence, and conclusions of a source.

Key takeaway

AI tools cannot be trusted to generate accurate citations without verification. Don’t cite sources you haven’t seen. If there is any doubt, confirm sources using Google Scholar, DOI resolvers, and library databases before relying on them in academic work.

For further writing assistance, you can contact one of Liberty's Writing Centers:

1. Online students can visit the Online Writing Center.
2. Residential students can visit the Residential Writing Center.