Assessment of utilization of ChatGPT on Medical Research Paper Writing Practices amongst University students in Lahore, Pakistan
Abstract
Background :The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in academic applications has transformed medical research writing. ChatGPT is an AI-based language model that has been introduced by Open AI. It is been commonly used for literature review, manuscript organization, and writing research papers and articles. Objective: To assess utilization of ChatGPT on medical research writing practices among university students. Method: An analytical cross- sectional study conducted among university student of The University of Lahore and Rashid Latif Khan University. The study participants were split into 3 groups on the basis of their enrolled degree programs; MBBS, BDS and Allied health sciences (undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate students). Duration of study was from January 2025 to June 2025. Descriptive statistics, frequencies, percentages, and cross-tabulations were employed to summarize the demographic features. For inferential testing, statistical tests were used to investigate the relationship between the question variable utilization of ChatGPT and Chi-square (?²) tests were used to detect relationships between categorical variables. Following an extensive study of the literature, a questionnaire was prepared. Total of 381 students were selected according to sample size. A sample of 381 students was selected using non probability convenience sampling technique. A self-constructed online validated questionnaire was used. Results: Among 381 participants, 81.9% of participants agreed that it improved their academic writing. A majority of respondents (92.1%) found it is easy to comprehend difficult ideas. Furthermore, 74.0% found that it helped them to organize their ideas while writing research papers. In addition, 79.0% students felt that it improved their ability to research independently. However, 70.9% students said inaccuracies were present in ChatGPT’s results. 50.1% agreed to use the text generated by ChatGPT without further validation. Conclusion: ChatGPT enhances enrolled university students’ academic writing, manuscript structure, conceptual understanding, time management, productivity and critical thinking. However, due to risks of inaccuracies and ethical concerns, its use must involve human oversight, verification, and adherence to academic integrity.