Photo: Screenshot from The Paper

Lanzhou University has launched investigation into a research paper published by a faculty member in an international academic journal which has been reported to contain suspected AI-generated contents as the graphics carries AI watermarks, The Paper reported on Sunday.

The Journal of Membrane Science (JMS) on Saturday said in a statement on its official WeChat account that it had recently received a complaint regarding potential publication ethics issues concerning a previously published paper.

The complaint noted that the images and figures in the article could have been fabricated, falsified, or manipulated, and whether its disclosure of the use of artificial intelligence (AI) complies with rules of the journal. 

JMS said in the statement that it takes such matters very seriously and has initiated an investigation in accordance with its established procedures. The journal strictly adheres to Elsevier's publication ethics policies and is firmly committed to upholding the highest standards of publication ethics, research integrity, and the integrity of the scholarly record.

Media reports said the academic paper was found to contain a chatbot Doubao's AI-generated watermark. 

The paper's first affiliated institution is the College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at Lanzhou University in Northwest China's Gansu Province, and the first author, who is also a co-corresponding author, is a faculty member surnamed Yang from the college. 

Lanzhou University said on Saturday it had immediately launched an investigation into concerns over the paper, reiterating its zero-tolerance policy toward research misconduct, vowing to handle the matter seriously based on the investigation results. 

As of Sunday, the paper published in May remained available for online access on the journal's official website.

Founded in 1976 and published by Elsevier, the JMS is widely recognized as one of the world's leading journals in membrane science research, per publicly available information. 

Global Times