After three very well-attended and inspiring events, the university-wide Research Day will take place for the fourth time this year. This time we are focusing on the topic: "Publish or Perish? - Scientific integrity in the age of publication pressure and AI"
We look forward to sharing an exciting day with all of you and fostering academic exchange among the faculties, departments, and the WittenLab.
AI is increasingly permeating our lives and our research. On the one hand, this enables innovative approaches and entirely new ideas, and makes some things easier—but on the other hand, it makes many things more complex and, at times, less transparent. In research in particular, questions regarding originality and integrity must be reframed and answered anew. This shapes research output, including academic theses such as doctoral dissertations and habilitation theses, and has created a different kind of publication culture. Unfortunately, alongside efficiency gains and new research opportunities, negative effects are also emerging. Submissions to academic journals have increased by as much as 30% in some cases since the introduction of AI, and at the same time, editors are increasingly reporting AI-generated peer reviews. Taken together, there is a risk that, in an environment dominated by “publish or perish,” we will increasingly delegate scientific work to AI and jeopardize the reputation of science itself. Guidelines such as “Good Scientific Practice,” which are also relevant for university students, play a special role in countering this development. Going beyond the boundaries of individual academic disciplines, we aim to explore the topic of “Scientific Integrity” from a wide variety of perspectives in a series of workshops.
Registration:
Register right here for the fourth university-wide Research Day on September 24, 2026! Registration for the workshops is required and binding.
Programme:
An exciting programme awaits you, featuring concurrent workshops, a poster session, and pitches:
Workshop 1:
Research Integrity and Publishing
Prof. Jan Postberg (Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Human Medicine) and Thomas Clauß (Faculty of Economics and Society, holder of the WIFU Endowed Chair for Corporate Entrepreneurship and Digitalization in Family Businesses).
The workshop will discuss the consequences of “publish or perish,” particularly in light of the influence of AI, a flood of journals, and predatory journals. This has serious consequences for researchers and their publishing behavior.
Workshop 2:
From the Start to the Defense—Good Scientific Practice and Aspects of the Advisor-Student Relationship
Designed specifically for (future) doctoral candidates. Prof. Florian Kreppel (Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Human Medicine) and Petra Thürmann (Vice President for Research) will outline the basic rules of good academic practice specifically for this group, ranging from the methodological foundations of research to the relationship between the advisor and the doctoral candidate.
Workshop 3:
How can AI creatively support research?
Led by Dr. Alina Tausch (Faculty of Economics and Society), this session explores how AI can creatively support research.
Please click here for further details about the programme.