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Faculty of Transport Engineering Hosts Discussion on AI’s Role in Academic Publishing

Faculty of Transport Engineering Hosts Discussion on AI’s Role in Academic Publishing

October 8, 2025

The Faculty of Transport Engineering of VILNIUS TECH hosted an international scientific roundtable discussion that brought together editors of seven scientific transport-related journals from Lithuania, Latvia, Croatia, Hungary, Poland, and China. The central theme of the event was the application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in academic publishing processes.

Welcoming his colleagues, Prof. Dr. Olegas Prentkovskis, Dean of the Faculty of Transport Engineering and Editor-in-Chief of TRANSPORT, emphasized that the roundtable discussion aimed to foster an open and forward-looking dialogue on academic publishing, editorial practices, and the shared challenges and opportunities in maintaining the highest standards of scholarly journals.

Launching the discussion, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Paulius Skačkauskas, Managing Editor of TRANSPORT, highlighted the dual nature of AI: “On the one hand, AI tools assist authors, reviewers, and editors – from language support and plagiarism detection to data analysis and manuscript structuring. On the other hand, AI raises serious challenges, including questions of authorship, transparency, and research reliability. We have already encountered manuscripts entirely generated by AI, containing fabricated literature reviews and non-existent references.”

Other editors emphasized different perspectives on AI in publishing. Prof. Dr. Gintautas Bureika noted that while geographical and cultural proximity is not a prerequisite for collaboration, face-to-face meetings foster openness and richer scholarly exchange – something AI still cannot replace.

Prof. Dr. Ádám Török raised the pressing question of whether AI can support not only authors and reviewers, but also editors themselves. Responding to this, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mykola Karpenko pointed out that major scientific databases such as Web of Science and Scopus have already integrated AI tools to enhance article selection, initial screening, and reviewer matching. However, he stressed that the ultimate decision of what constitutes a valuable scientific publication must remain a human responsibility.

Prof. Dr. Irina Jackiva expressed her satisfaction that in scholarly publishing there are now tools available not only to check for overlaps, but also to detect AI-generated passages in manuscripts.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Luka Novačko underlined concerns about AI reliability. AI can accelerate writing, but its weakness in scientific publishing remains clear – fabricated references. Human oversight remains essential to ensure the trustworthiness of scientific output. This view was echoed by Dr. Željko Stević, who also stressed reliability: “I am against the dominant use of AI in science because it relies on internet-based information, which is not always accurate. AI can support secondary tasks, but it cannot assume the core responsibilities of scientific work”.

Closing the discussion, Prof. Habil. Dr. Anna Borucka emphasized that AI use in science is already an inescapable reality. “Our role as editors is not to block these changes but to create clear frameworks that allow AI to be used creatively, ethically, and responsibly. The most important goal is to preserve research integrity and the accountability of authors” – claimed A. Borucka.

Summarizing the event, Prof. Dr. Olegas Prentkovskis highlighted that editorial work is a continuous balancing act between supporting authors, coordinating reviewers, and ensuring the quality and visibility of journals. That is why meetings like this are invaluable – they allow us to work together to turn challenges into opportunities.

The roundtable demonstrated that AI has already become an integral part of academic publishing. However, its successful use will depend on editors’ shared vision, responsibility, and adherence to ethical standards. Participants agreed that open dialogue and international cooperation remain key to maintaining the highest standards of scholarly publications.

Written by Vice-Dean for Research and Communication of the Faculty of Transport Engineering Assoc. Prof. Dr. Kamilė Taujanskaitė

The meeting was attended by:

Prof. Dr. Olegas Prentkovskis, Editor-in-Chief of the TRANSPORT (published by VILNIUS TECH, Lithuania);
Prof. Dr. Gintautas Bureika, Editor-in-Chief of the AVIATION (published by VILNIUS TECH, Lithuania);
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mykola Karpenko, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the TRANSPORT and Managing Editor of the AVIATION (both published by VILNIUS TECH, Lithuania);
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Paulius Skačkauskas, Managing Editor of the TRANSPORT (published by VILNIUS TECH, Lithuania);
Prof. Dr. Irina Jackiva, Managing Editor of the TRANSPORT AND TELECOMMUNICATION (published by Transport and Telecommunication Institute, Latvia);
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Luka Novačko, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the PROMET – TRAFFIC AND TRANSPORTATION (published by the University of Zagreb, Croatia);
Prof. Dr. Ádám Török, Editor-in-Chief of the PERIODICA POLYTECHNICA: TRANSPORT ENGINEERING (published by Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Hungary);
Prof. Habil. Dr. Anna Borucka, Editor-in-Chief of EKSPLOATACJA I NIEZAWODNOŚĆ – MAINTENANCE AND RELIABILITY (published by the Polish Society of Technical Supervision, Poland);
Dr. Željko Stević, Editor-in-Chief of the JOURNAL OF INTELLIGENT MANAGEMENT DECISION (published by Acadlore Publishing House, China).