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Imagine that a supposedly academic journal intentionally publishes an AI-generated article which is full of claims which are easily verifiable nonsense to any expert in the field. The article is published under the name of a real academic who works in the field, and that academic had no involvement in creating the nonsense article, and would definitely not have agreed to publish it under her own name.

If a member of the academic community in the same field were to read the article and believe that the author attribution were correct, then they would most likely form a low opinion of the supposed author's competence in that field. However, an ordinary member of the public would not have the expertise to judge that the article is nonsense, and might think that having published an article in the field is a positive indication of her expertise. The article itself doesn't contain any statements about the claimed author's expertise, the article's only claim related to her is that she is the author.

Is the journal's false attribution defamatory?

This is a hypothetical question not restricted to a particular jurisdiction, so answers about any jurisdiction are welcome. The question is inspired by a real situation posted on Academia SE, but the question should be answered based on the hypothetical facts stated here, not in that post.

kaya3
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3 Answers3

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The defamatory act is the statement that the academic wrote the nonsense

It’s not true and it harms their reputation.

It’s conceptually no different from saying the academic faked their data, or didn’t earn their degrees, or is a secret Nazi.

Dale M
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Yes, the journal's false attribution is likely defamatory, as it harms the academic's reputation by associating her with false information, damaging her standing among peers. It misleads the public, potentially causing further harm in future.

Sahil Fatima
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Most scientific/research journals specify it as their policy that the corresponding authors (i.e., the one's submitting the article) should obtain an accord of all the authors mentioned. (Conversely, all the authors mentioned should be familiar with the text and take responsibility for it.) Some go as far as to send notifications to the authors concerned (where their email addresses are available) or may even require a letter of consent.

Here is, e.g., Physical Review policy:

Corresponding author. This individual represents all listed authors during the peer-review process and must be designated for every submission. The Corresponding Author should inform all authors of the submission of a paper and the outcome of important steps in the review process.

[...]

By submitting the manuscript, the Corresponding Author certifies the following: [...]

  • All listed authors contributed significantly to the concept, design, execution, interpretation, or write-up of the research study.
  • All those who made significant contributions were offered the opportunity to be listed as authors.
  • All listed authors are aware of and agree to the submission of the manuscript.

(emphasis is mine.)

Roger V.
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