How is ChatGPT acknowledged in academic publications?

This study analysed the acknowledgment of ChatGPT in 1,759 academic publications indexed in Scopus and Web of Science up to August 2024. Around 80% of acknowledgments were related to text editing and proofreading, while only 5.3% mentioned ChatGPT for non-editorial research support, such as data analysis or programming. A small portion (3.5%) of researchers acknowledged ChatGPT for drafting sections of manuscripts. About two-thirds of corresponding authors who acknowledged ChatGPT were from non-English-speaking countries, and 75% of the publications with ChatGPT acknowledgments were published within January to August 2024. These findings suggest that ChatGPT was primarily acknowledged for language enhancement rather than more complex research applications, although some researchers may not have found it necessary to mention its use in their publications, highlighting the need for transparency from journals and publishers.