Detecting Reference Errors in Scientific Literature with Large Language Models

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Hauptverfasser: Zhang, Tianmai M., Abernethy, Neil F.
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2024
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author Zhang, Tianmai M.
Abernethy, Neil F.
author_facet Zhang, Tianmai M.
Abernethy, Neil F.
contents Reference errors, such as citation and quotation errors, are common in scientific papers. Such errors can result in the propagation of inaccurate information, but are difficult and time-consuming to detect, posing a significant challenge to scientific publishing. To support automatic detection of reference errors, this work evaluated the ability of large language models in OpenAI's GPT family to detect quotation errors. Specifically, we prepared an expert-annotated, general-domain dataset of statement-reference pairs from journal articles. Large language models were evaluated in different settings with varying amounts of reference information provided by retrieval augmentation. Our results showed that large language models are able to detect erroneous citations with limited context and without fine-tuning. This study contributes to the growing literature that seeks to utilize artificial intelligence to assist in the writing, reviewing, and publishing of scientific papers. Potential avenues for further improvements in this task are also discussed.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2411_06101
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Detecting Reference Errors in Scientific Literature with Large Language Models
Zhang, Tianmai M.
Abernethy, Neil F.
Computation and Language
Reference errors, such as citation and quotation errors, are common in scientific papers. Such errors can result in the propagation of inaccurate information, but are difficult and time-consuming to detect, posing a significant challenge to scientific publishing. To support automatic detection of reference errors, this work evaluated the ability of large language models in OpenAI's GPT family to detect quotation errors. Specifically, we prepared an expert-annotated, general-domain dataset of statement-reference pairs from journal articles. Large language models were evaluated in different settings with varying amounts of reference information provided by retrieval augmentation. Our results showed that large language models are able to detect erroneous citations with limited context and without fine-tuning. This study contributes to the growing literature that seeks to utilize artificial intelligence to assist in the writing, reviewing, and publishing of scientific papers. Potential avenues for further improvements in this task are also discussed.
title Detecting Reference Errors in Scientific Literature with Large Language Models
topic Computation and Language
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2411.06101