Citation Hallucination

Fabricated Citation with Real Identifier

Definition

A specific failure mode where an AI system generates a citation with a real, resolvable identifier (DOI, PMID, arXiv ID) but the identifier points to a different paper than the one claimed in the citation. The identifier is valid but the citation is false.

Examples in the Wild

  • Example 1:DOI resolves to Paper A, but citation claims it supports claim about Paper B
  • Example 2:PMID points to a real article, but title and abstract differ from what was cited