AI-generated illustration; not a photograph of the reported event.
- calendar_today October 15, 2026
Reference Errors in Anglophone Education Plan Raise Concerns
The recently released New Brunswick Anglophone Sector Education Plan is facing criticism from multiple university professors after reference errors involving non-existent academic sources were discovered. The province’s Department of Education acknowledges that artificial intelligence (AI) played a role in creating the bibliography, but maintains its use was limited.
AI Blamed for 'Frankencitations' and Misattributions
Mathematics education professor Vincent Geiger of the Australian Catholic University was cited in the plan’s reference list. However, the article attributed to him, as well as the journal named, do not appear to exist. "It's a bit of a mishmash of things I have worked on in the past," Geiger told CBC News. He describes the attribution as "pretty shoddy" for a government document, indicating it appears someone or something pieced together elements of his prior research into a fabricated citation.
Another academic, William Jeynes from California State University, Long Beach, found his name credited with an article he did not write, though it was in his field. “What I find most disturbing is, this is not the first time I have encountered this. I've seen this on student papers that I know have used AI,” Jeynes said, noting that attribution errors rise in importance when included in an official government education report.
AI Hallucinations and the Integrity of Academic Documents
Matt McGuire, who teaches educational technology at the University of New Brunswick, believes these misattributed and fabricated references bear the hallmarks of AI “hallucinations.” This term describes the phenomenon where AI generates plausible-sounding but false or invented information. McGuire referred to these as “Frankencitations”—AI-produced citations that combine real elements into new, non-existent sources. “It makes us question the integrity of a document and the process that was followed,” he said, warning that the credibility of research and policy documents is undermined by the inclusion of such errors, even if the document’s broader content remains accurate.
Role of AI and Accountability in Education Policy
Nabil Beitinjaneh, a faculty lecturer and data programs co-ordinator at McGill University, said the issue is not the use of generative AI, but the processes and governance that accompany its implementation. Beitinjaneh found additional errors, such as misspelled author names and orphaned citations—works cited in the text but missing from the reference list. He suggested that AI, if used properly, could help with tracking sources and reducing such mistakes, provided there is adequate review and oversight.
Department's Response and the Importance of Human Oversight
In a statement, New Brunswick’s Department of Education and Early Childhood Development explained that departmental staff wrote the education plan and that all studies and references intended for use are real and valid. A spokesperson clarified that Microsoft 365 Co-Pilot, an AI-powered assistant, was used to format the bibliography, resulting in two incorrect references entering the final document. Communications director Shawn Berry said, “The human review of the document missed those incorrect references and corrections are being made.”
Geiger emphasized the broader impacts of misattributed academic work, noting that such mistakes can affect early-career researchers whose contributions might be lost in error, affecting the recognition of their work in future policy discussions.
Ongoing Review and Calls for Improved Standards
The controversy highlights a broader conversation about accuracy when integrating AI tools into the drafting of policy documents. Experts and stakeholders are calling for more robust accountability and human review to ensure academic integrity and trust in official government education plans.
Source: cbc.ca.
