Responsible Use of Artificial Intelligence to Maintain Research Integrity
by Renu Kumari
Indo-Swiss Workshop: Research Integrity in the Age of AI
Date: October 10, 2025
Location: Bharat Mandapam Convention Centre, New Delhi, India
Organized By: Swissnex in India, Frontiers and the Indian National Young Academy of Sciences (INYAS)
Speakers:
Dr. Lena Robra, Head of Academic Engagement, Swissnex India
Dr. Frederick Fenter, Chief Executive Editor, Frontiers
H.E. Maya Tissafi, Ambassador of Switzerland to India and Bhutan
Prof. Dhananjay Singh, Member Secretary, Indian Council of Science Research, New Delhi
Dr. Nishant Chakravorty, Chair, Indian National Young Academy of Science (INYAS); Associate Professor, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur
Dr. Sriparna Chatterjee, Scientist, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research - Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology (CSIR-IMMT) Bhubaneswar (Moderator of the session)
Prof. Edwin Constable, Professor, University of Basel
Prof. Suman Chakraborty, Director, IIT Kharagpur
Dr. George Thomas, Head of Strategic Partnerships, Frontiers (Moderator of the session)
Ms. Jhalak M. Kakkar, Executive Director, CCG, NLU, Delhi
Prof. Gernot Pruschak, Professor, Bern University of Applied Sciences
Dr. Geetha Vani Rayasam, Director, Council of Scientific & Industrial Research - National Institute of Science Communication and Policy Research (CSIR-NIScPR)
Dr. Caroline Sutton, CEO, International Association of Scientific, Technical and Medical Publishers (STM Association)
Dr. Marie Soulière, Head of Editorial Ethics and Quality, Assurance, Frontiers
Mr. Samuel Leslie, Senior Product Manager, Cactus Communication
Dr. Kutubuddin Molla, Senior Scientist, Indian Council of Agricultural Research - Central Rice Research Institute (ICAR-CRRI) Cuttack (Moderator of the session)
Prof. Manfred Max Bermann, Professor, University of Basel
Dr. Gitanjali Yadav, Scientist, NIPGR, New Delhi
Dr. Moumita Koley, Senior Research Analyst, Department of Science and Technology - Centre for Policy Research (DST-CPR)
Dr. Rajendra Singh Dhaka, IIT Delhi
Insights from the Indo-Swiss Workshop: ‘Research Integrity in the Age of AI’
Benefits of AI for researchers
Planning of Projects, hypothesis
Planning of experimental design
Proposal optimization
Data analysis
Reports and publication preparation
for structuring and cleaning the data
AI-generated review reports and summarization
automated screening
AI-assisted reproducibility
figure creation
workflow augmentation
Disadvantages of AI for researchers
Inaccurate and incomplete literature knowledge
inherent bias in the AI
lack of reference AI is using
non compliance with regulators
synthetic data
Authorship confusion
AI: Opportunities for Publishers and Funders
To check plagiarism in the manuscript/ project
Pre-screening of submission
Identification of multiple publication
To check language improvement
Identification of the referee
Checking references in the manuscript/ project
What is needed? AI (Artificial Intelligence) and RI (Research Integrity)
Self-appraisal checklists for researchers and institutions
Clear and dynamic rules and guidelines
Implementation and incorporation into good scientific practice documentation
Broader awareness of the benefits and the disadvantages
Some Propositions for responsible and ethical use of AI
Keypoints taken from the presentation by Prof. Suman Chakraborty, Director, IIT Kharagpur
1. Trusted Research Ledger
It is the institution based system to keep the records of datasets, protocols, approvals and authorship information. Each project transcation and experimental details should be logged transparently.
ensures auditability
foster reproducibility
builds inter-lab trust
prevents data-tempering
2. AI Integrity Sandbox
A dedicated system where AI tools used in research analysis are evaluated periodically for reproducibility, bias and transparency.
There should be independent validation of AI-assisted workflow used by researchers.
All the AI outputs should be reliably verified and reproduced.
3. Integrity Scorecard
A digital dashboard integrated with existing R&D management system.
It supports healthy competition.
A transparent and quantifiable system for audit success and open access compliance.
Builds culture of accountability
It provides data-driven insights.
4. Open Lab Notebooks
It is a digital lab notebooks inspired by open science principles which is partially or fully accessible to external collaborators and the public.
The notebooks should include:
experimental protocols
published data etc.
It promotes open ethical and reproducible science and accelerates collaborations.
5. Research Ombudsman and Rapid Response Team
An Institute should have independent department with dedicated response team for research integrity concerns. It should be dedicated to provide confidential consultation and ensures fair and timely resolution of the concerns.
Important features:
A multidisciplinary rapid response team including senior faculty member and trained staff.
It should encourage early conflict resolution.
Confidential Advisory role to discuss potential issues.
It should publish annual reports highlighting trends.
It should have standard procedures for registering complaints, mediation and documentation.
Benefits:
It strengthens trust and psychological safety across the academic ecosystem.
promotes transparency and fairness
COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) : Three key policies
AI can not be an author as it is not a legal enity and it also can not take responsibility for the research.
There should no uploading of confidential manuscript and projects by the reviewers and editors to external AI tools.
The final decisions on the manuscript should not be made by Artificial Intelligence but AI can help in peer review, making recommendation etc.