GenAI and Authorship in Academia: The (Im)Possible Creator. An Integrative Review

Irena Vassileva; Mariya Chankova

doi:10.2478/doc-2026-0004

.blurhash-client-img { display: none !important; }

GenAI and Authorship in Academia: The (Im)Possible Creator. An Integrative Review

Discourses on Culture

Volume 25 (2026): Issue 1 (June 2026)

By: Irena Vassileva and Mariya Chankova

Open Access

|Jul 2026

Abstract

Amid vivid ethical discussions on using AI to assist scholars in the writing process, this contribution tackles the question about Generative AI and authorship from a philosophy of language and academic perspective. In this integrative review, we look into the ways Generative AI impacts the very notion of authorship on the stages of knowledge production, knowledge consumption and knowledge dissemination. We focus on the implications of using Large Language Models with their enhanced capabilities of generating convincing imitations of human natural language for our conception of authorship. Contextualizing this capability to the realm of academic production, we seek to explore whether generative AI is going to further add to the postmodern destruction of the author, and how it relates to a core aspect of academic integrity, namely acknowledging the intellectual contributions of other scholars.

References

Barthes, R. (1977). The Death of the Author (1968). In: Image, Music, Text (pp. 142—148). Fontana Press.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Bakhtin, M. (1981). The Dialogic Imagination: Four Essays. Austin: U of Texas Press.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Bakhtin, M. (1986). Speech Genres and Other Late Essays. Austin: U of Texas Press.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Balabdaoui, F., Dittmann‑Domenichini, N., Grosse, H., Schlienger, C., & Kortemeyer, G. (2024). A survey on students’ use of AI at a technical university. Discover Education, 3(1), 51. DOI: 10.1007/s44217-024-00136-4.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Bazerman, C., & Paradis, J. G. (Eds.). (1991). Textual dynamics of the professions: Historical and contemporary studies of writing in professional communities. University of Wisconsin Press.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Bender, E. M., Gebru, T., McMillan ‑Major, A., & Shmitchell, S. (2021, March). On the dangers of stochastic parrots: Can language models be too big? In: Proceedings of the 2021 ACM conference on fairness, accountability, and transparency (pp. 610—623). DOI: 10.1145/3442188.3445922.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Bender, E. M., & Hanna, A. (2025). The AI Con: How to Fight Big Tech’s Hype and Create the Future We Want. HarperCollins.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Birnholtz, J. P. (2006). What does it mean to be an author? The intersection of credit, contribution, and collaboration in science. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 57(13), 1758—1770. DOI: 10.1002/asi.20380.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Bizzell, P. (1990). Beyond Anti -Foundationalism to Rhetorical Authority: Problems Defining “Cultural Literacy”. College English, 52(6), 661—675. DOI: 10.2307/378033.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Burke, T. (2025, May 13). Academia: Is AI Hype? (Yes). Eight by Seven. Retrieved from https://timothyburke.substack.com/p/academia-is-ai-hype-yes. Accessed 8 May 2026.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Challapally, A., Pease, C., Raskar, R., & Chari, P. (2025). State of AI in business 2025. Preprint at https://www.artificialintelligence-news.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/ai_report_2025.pdf. MIT NANDA Initiative. Accessed 8 May 2026.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Chankova, M. (in print). AI in the Perceptions of Students and Scholars in Bulgaria: a Thematic Analysis. In: D. Yankova, I. Vassileva (Eds.). Upholding Ethics in Academia Conference Proceedings, 18 September 2025, New Bulgarian University Publishing House, Sofia.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Chankova, M. & Vassileva, I. (2024). Академична почтеност. Между нормативна уредба и възприятия за етиката на използването на генеративен ИИ [Academic Integrity: Between Regulation and Perceptions of the Ethics of Using Generative AI]. Етика, наука, образование [Ethics, Science, Education], 2(2), 91—104. DOI: 10.54664/EKZC7283.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
COPE Council (2024). COPE position—Authorship and AI—English. DOI: 10.24318/cCVRZBms.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Floridi, L. (2025). Distant Writing: Literary Production in the Age of Artificial Intelligence. Minds and Machines, 35, 30. DOI: 10.1007/s11023-025-09732-1.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Foley, W. A. (1997). Anthropological Linguistics. An Introduction. Oxford: Blackwell.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Foucault, M. (1972). The Archaeology of Knowledge. London: Tavistock Publications.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Frye, B. L. (2023). Should using an AI text generator to produce academic writing be plagiarism? Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal, 33(4), 946.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Gervais, D. J. (2020). The Machine as Author. Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications, 105, 2053—2106.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Goffman, E. (1981). Forms of talk. Oxford: Blackwell.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Goto, A., & Katanoda, K. (2023). Should we acknowledge ChatGPT as an author? Journal of Epidemiology, 33(7), 333—334. DOI: 10.2188/jea.JE20230078.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Grimaldi, G., & Ehrler, B. (2023). AI et al.: Machines are about to change scientific publishing forever. ACS energy letters, 8(1), 878—880. DOI: 10.1021/acsenergylett.2c02828.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Hosseini, M., Resnik, D. B., & Holmes, K. (2023). The ethics of disclosing the use of artificial intelligence tools in writing scholarly manuscripts. Research Ethics, 19(4), 449—465. DOI: 10.1177/17470161231180449.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Hosseini, M., Rasmussen, L. M., & Resnik, D. B. (2024). Using AI to write scholarly publications. Accountability in research, 31(7), 715—723. DOI: 10.1080/08989621.2023.2168535.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Hughes, L., Malik, T., Dettmer, S., Al‑Busaidi, A. S., & Dwivedi, Y. K. (2025). Reimagining higher education: Navigating the challenges of generative AI adoption. Information Systems Frontiers, 1—23. DOI: 10.1007/s10796-025--10582-6.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Humlum, A., & Vestergaard, E. (2025). Large language models, small labor market effects. University of Chicago, Becker Friedman Institute for Economics Working Paper No. 2025-56. DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.5219933.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Hutson, J. (2025). Human -AI collaboration in writing: A multidimensional framework for creative and intellectual authorship. International Journal of Changes in Education. DOI: 10.47852/bonviewIJCE52024908.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Hwang, A. H. C., & Won, A. S. (2022, April). AI in your mind: Counterbalancing perceived agency and experience in human-ai interaction. In: CHI conference on human factors in computing systems extended abstracts (pp. 1—10). DOI: 10.1145/3491101.3519833.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Kobiella, C., Flores López, Y. S., Waltenberger, F., Draxler, F., & Schmidt, A. (2024, May). “If the machine is as good as me, then what use am I?”—How the use of ChatGPT changes young professionals’ perception of productivity and accomplishment. In: Proceedings of the 2024 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1—16). DOI: 10.1145/3613904.3641964.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Kosmyna, N., Hauptmann, E., Yuan, Y. T., Situ, J., Liao, X. H., Beresnitzky, A. V., Braunstein, I. & Maes, P. (2025). Your brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of cognitive debt when using an AI assistant for essay writing task. arXiv:2506.08872, 4. DOI: 10.48550/arXiv.2506.08872.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Kreminski, M. (2024, May). The dearth of the author in AI -supported writing. In: Proceedings of the Third Workshop on Intelligent and Interactive Writing Assistants (pp. 48—50). DOI: 10.1145/3690712.3690725.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Kristeva, J. (1986). Word, dialogue and novel. In: T. Moi (Ed.) The Kristeva Reader (pp. 34—61). Oxford: Blackwell.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Leung, T. I., de Azevedo Cardoso, T., Mavragani, A., & Eysenbach, G. (2023). Best practices for using AI tools as an author, peer reviewer, or editor. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 25, e51584. DOI: 10.2196/51584.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Li, Z., Liang, C., Peng, J., & Yin, M. (2024). How Does the Disclosure of AI Assistance Affect the Perceptions of Writing? arXiv:2410.04545. DOI: 10.48550/ arXiv.2410.04545.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Lingard, L. (2023). Writing with ChatGPT: An illustration of its capacity, limitations & implications for academic writers. Perspectives on medical education, 12(1), 261. DOI: 10.5334/pme.1072.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Lund, B. D., & Naheem, K. T. (2024). Can ChatGPT be an author? A study of artificial intelligence authorship policies in top academic journals. Learned Publishing, 37(1), 13—21. DOI: 10.1002/leap.1582.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
McAdoo, T. (2023). How to cite ChatGPT. APA Style Blog. Retrieved from https://apastyle.apa.org/blog/how-to-cite-chatgpt. Accessed 10 June 2025.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
McKinsey & Company (2023). What’s the future of generative AI? An early view in 15 charts. Retrieved from https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/mckinsey/featured%20insights/mckinsey%20explainers/whats%20the%20future%20of%20generative%20ai%20an%20early%20view%20in%2015%20charts/whats-the--future-of-generative-ai-an-early-view-in-15-charts.pdf. Accessed 11 May 2026.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Nguyen, A. Q., Do, T. D., & Nguyen, N. (2024). Application of artificial intelligence technology in teaching, learning, and assessment of foreign languages in higher education institutions in Vietnam. Educational Research and Human Development, 1(1), 1—9. DOI: 10.61784/erhd3001.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Oakley, B., Johnston, M., Chen, K. Z., Jung, E., & Sejnowski, T. J. (2025). The Memory Paradox: Why Our Brains Need Knowledge in an Age of AI. arXiv:2506.11015. DOI: 10.48550/arXiv.2506.11015.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
OpenAI.com (August 7, 2025). Introducing GPT-5.5. Retrieved from https://openai.com/index/introducing-gpt-5/. Accessed 28 May 2026.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Perkins, M., & Roe, J. (2024). Academic publisher guidelines on AI usage: A ChatGPT supported thematic analysis. F1000Research, 12, 1398. DOI: 10.12688/f1000research.142411.2.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Phelps, L. (1990). Audience and Authorship: The Disappearing Boundary. In: G. Kirsch, D. Roen (Eds.), A Sense of Audience in Written Communication (pp. 153—174). London: Sage Publications.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Resnik, D. B., & Hosseini, M. (2025). Disclosing artificial intelligence use in scientific research and publication: When should disclosure be mandatory, optional, or unnecessary? Accountability in Research, 33(2), 1—13. DOI: 10.1080/08989621.2025.2481949.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Rodrigues, T. V. (2025). Distant Writing and The Epistemology of Authorship: On Creativity, Delegation, And Plagiarism in The Age Of AI. International Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities Invention, 12(5), 8598—8613. DOI: 10.18535/ijsshi/v12i05.04.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Rosenblatt, L. M. (2018). The Transactional Theory of Reading and Writing. In: D.E. Alvermann, N.J. Unrau, M. Sailors, & R.B. Ruddell (Eds.), Theoretical Models and Processes of Literacy (pp. 451—479). Routledge. DOI: 10.4324/9781315110592-28.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Sah, S., Malaviya, P., & Thompson, D. (2018). Conflict of interest disclosure as an expertise cue: Differential effects due to automatic versus deliberative processing. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 147(4), 127—146. DOI: 10.1016/j.obhdp.2018.05.008.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Schei, O. M., Møgelvang, A., & Ludvigsen, K. (2024). Perceptions and use of AI chatbots among students in higher education: A scoping review of empirical studies. Education Sciences, 14(8), 922. DOI: 10.3390/educsci14080922.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Schilke, O., & Reimann, M. (2025). The transparency dilemma: How AI disclosure erodes trust. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 188, 104405. DOI: 10.1016/j.obhdp.2025.104405.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Searle, J. R. (1969). Speech acts: An essay in the philosophy of language. Cambridge University Press.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Thorp, H. H. (2023). ChatGPT is fun, but not an author. Science, 379(6630), 313. DOI: 10.1126/science.adg7879.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Titus, L. M. (2024). Does ChatGPT have semantic understanding? A problem with the statistics -of -occurrence strategy. Cognitive Systems Research, 83, 101174. DOI: 10.1016/j.cogsys.2023.101174.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Treharne, E. & Willan, C. (2019). Text Technologies. A History. Stanford University Press.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Van Dis, E. A., Bollen, J., Zuidema, W., Van Rooij, R., & Bockting, C. L. (2023). ChatGPT: five priorities for research. Nature, 614(7947), 224—226. DOI: 10.1038/d41586-023-00288-7.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Vanneste, B. S., & Puranam, P. (2024). Artificial intelligence, trust, and perceptions of agency. Academy of Management Review, 50(4), DOI: 10.5465/amr.2022.0041.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Van Woudenberg, R., Ranalli, C., & Bracker, D. (2024). Authorship and ChatGPT: A conservative view. Philosophy & Technology, 37(1), 34. DOI: 10.1007/s13347-024-00715-1.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Vassileva, I. (2006). Author ‑AudienceInteraction.A Cross ‑CulturalPerspective. Sankt Augustin: Asgard Verlag.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Volosinov, V. N. (1973). Marxism and the Philosophy of Language. New York: Seminar Press.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Wise, B., Emerson, L., Van Luyn, A., Dyson, B., Bjork, C., & Thomas, S. E. (2024). A scholarly dialogue: writing scholarship, authorship, academic integrity and the challenges of AI. Higher Education Research & Development, 43(3), 578—590. DOI: 10.1080/07294360.2023.2280195.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Xames, M. D., & Shefa, J. (2023). ChatGPT for research and publication: Opportunities and challenges. Journal of Applied Learning and Teaching, 6(1), 390—395. DOI: 10.37074/jalt.2023.6.1.20.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Xu, B. (2025). Hallucination is Inevitable for LLMs with the Open World Assumption. arXiv:2510.05116. DOI: 10.48550/arXiv.2510.05116.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Xu, Z., Jain, S., & Kankanhalli, M. (2024). Hallucination is inevitable: An innate limitation of large language models. arXiv:2401.11817. DOI: 10.48550/arXiv.2401.11817.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Yu, H. (2023). Reflection on whether Chat GPT should be banned by academia from the perspective of education and teaching. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 1181712. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1181712.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article

Articles in this issue

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/doc-2026-0004 | Journal eISSN: 2450-0402

Journal RSS Feed

Language: English

Page range: 79 - 109

Submitted on: Oct 29, 2025

Accepted on: Feb 19, 2026

Published on: Jul 3, 2026

Published by: SAN University

In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services

Publication frequency: 2 issues per year

Keywords:

GenAI,

authorship,

academic integrity,

knowledge production,

knowledge consumption

Related subjects:

Cultural studies,

General cultural studies,

Linguistics and semiotics,

Applied linguistics,

Applied linguistics, other,

Literary studies,

Literary studies, general,

Social sciences,

Social sciences, other

© 2026 Irena Vassileva, Mariya Chankova, published by SAN University
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Volume 25 (2026): Issue 1 (June 2026)