Z-Library paper by Ayoolewa Aregbesola cites nonexistent TorrentFreak article

The paper by Ayoolewa Aregbesola and Sola Emmanuel Owolabi set out to examine shadow libraries like Z-Library, noting that they improve access for researchers in resource-limited regions while raising ethical and legal concerns. In a chapter on legal action against Z-Library, the paper describes major academic publishers Elsevier and Springer Nature as taking similar legal steps, and it supports that with a 2021 TorrentFreak article. TorrentFreak says no such article was ever published.

Beyond that missing citation, TorrentFreak's review of the full reference list found many entries that look plausible because they cite real publications or organizations in context, yet are not accurate. It points to a 2019 College & Research Libraries item credited to Carol Tenopir: she has published on similar themes, but the cited issue does not contain an article by her. Of the 44 references, at least 10 were inaccurate in this way.

The paper's acknowledgments state that the literature search AI tool Consensus AI was used to review a large volume of literature and extract relevant information, and that ChatGPT was used to improve wording in parts of the paper. TorrentFreak notes that if AI-found papers had been scrutinized, reference errors would not occur, suggesting AI may have been used for the whole writing process rather than as an aid. It also reports that its analysis of the paper's abstract and conclusion with the AI detection tool Pangram found both sections were likely 100% AI-generated. Taylor & Francis has said it will investigate.