分析200万篇预印本,发现生成式AI让论文写得更快,但只在部分领域影响更大。
Does GenAI Rewrite How We Write? An Empirical Study on Two-Million Preprints
- 用时间序列与语言分析,追踪210万篇论文写作变化
- 论文提交和修改速度加快,语言复杂度略有提升
- 人工智能相关话题激增,理工科受益更明显
预印本平台已成为学术交流的核心基础设施,其扩张改变了科研成果在期刊发表前的传播与评估方式。生成式大模型(LLMs)进一步可能改变论文撰写方式。尽管存在广泛讨论,但系统性证据仍不足。本文基于2016至2025年(115个月)跨arXiv、bioRxiv、medRxiv、SocArXiv四个主要平台的超过210万篇预印本,构建多层级分析框架,融合中断时间序列模型、合作与产出指标、语言特征分析及主题建模,评估提交量、作者结构、写作风格与学科分布的变化。结果表明,LLMs加速了投稿与修订周期,小幅提升了语言复杂度,并显著扩大了与人工智能相关的研究主题,尤其在计算密集型领域表现更突出。研究显示,LLMs并非普遍颠覆者,而是选择性催化剂,放大既有优势并加剧学科差异。该研究首次为评估生成式AI对学术出版的影响提供实证基础,强调需建立治理框架以保障研究生态中的信任、公平与问责。
原文摘要 · Abstract (English)
Preprint repositories become central infrastructures for scholarly communication. Their expansion transforms how research is circulated and evaluated before journal publication. Generative large language models (LLMs) introduce a further potential disruption by altering how manuscripts are written. While speculation abounds, systematic evidence of whether and how LLMs reshape scientific publishing remains limited. This paper addresses the gap through a large-scale analysis of more than 2.1 million preprints spanning 2016--2025 (115 months) across four major repositories (i.e., arXiv, bioRxiv, medRxiv, SocArXiv). We introduce a multi-level analytical framework that integrates interrupted time-series models, collaboration and productivity metrics, linguistic profiling, and topic modeling to assess changes in volume, authorship, style, and disciplinary orientation. Our findings reveal that LLMs have accelerated submission and revision cycles, modestly increased linguistic complexity, and disproportionately expanded AI-related topics, while computationally intensive fields benefit more than others. These results show that LLMs act less as universal disruptors than as selective catalysts, amplifying existing strengths and widening disciplinary divides. By documenting these dynamics, the paper provides the first empirical foundation for evaluating the influence of generative AI on academic publishing and highlights the need for governance frameworks that preserve trust, fairness, and accountability in an AI-enabled research ecosystem.
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