paper generator

{{Short description|Software to create fake academic articles}}

File:SCIgen sample page 1.png.]]

A paper generator is computer software that composes scholarly papers in the style of those that appear in academic journals or conference proceedings. Typically, the generator uses technical jargon from the field to compose sentences that are grammatically correct and seem erudite but are actually nonsensical.{{Cite web |last=Lakshmanan |first=Lak |date=2023-01-30 |title=Why large language models (like ChatGPT) are bullshit artists |url=https://becominghuman.ai/why-large-language-models-like-chatgpt-are-bullshit-artists-c4d5bb850852 |access-date=2023-05-08 |website=Medium |language=en}} The prose is supported by tables, figures, and references that may be valid in themselves, but are randomly inserted rather than relevant.{{citation |pages=56–59 |chapter=3.7.5 Paper Generators |title=Technical Writing: A Practical Guide for Engineers and Scientists |author=Phillip A. Laplante |date=28 July 2011 |publisher=CRC Press, 2011 |isbn=9781439820858}}

Examples include the Postmodernism Generator,{{citation |page=77 |author=Malcolm Quinn |title='Theor-ese' or the Protocols of the Elders of Cultural Studies |work=Cultural Studies, Interdisciplinarity, and Translation |volume=20 |publisher=Rodopi |year=2002 |isbn=9789042008939}} snarXiv{{citation |title=Computer Science: The Hardware, Software and Heart of It |page=440 |author=Edward K. Blum, Alfred V Aho |publisher=Springer |year=2011 |isbn=9781461411680 |quote=ArXiv versus snarXiv is a popular game of guessing which title refers to a genuine scientific article.}} and SCIgen. The latter has been used to generate many computer science papers that were accepted for publication.