Patterns and Purposes: A Cross-Journal Analysis of AI Tool Usage in Academic Writing

TL;DR

This study analyzes AI tool usage in academic writing across multiple journals, revealing ChatGPT's dominance and differences based on language background and team internationality, with primary purposes being readability and grammar improvement.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive analysis of AI tool usage patterns and purposes in academic writing, informing journal policies and understanding AI's evolving role.

Findings

ChatGPT accounts for 77% of AI tool usage

Significant differences in usage between native and non-native English speakers

Readability and grammar checking are the main purposes of AI tool use

Abstract

This study investigates the use of AI tools in academic writing through analysis of AI usage declarations in journals. Using a mixed-methods approach combining content analysis, statistical analysis, and text mining, this research analyzed 168 AI declarations from 8,859 articles across 27 categories. Results show that ChatGPT dominates academic writing assistance (77% usage), with significant differences in tool usage between native and non-native English speakers (p = 0.0483) and between international and non-international teams (p = 0.0012). The study reveals that improving readability (51%) and grammar checking (22%) are the primary purposes of AI tool usage. These findings provide insights for journal policy development and understanding the evolving role of AI in academic writing.