Editors are grappling with a new integrity problem: manuscripts contain AI‑generated but non‑existent citations and fabricated references. Peer reviewers and journal staff report an uptick in submissions where reference lists include invented papers, bogus DOIs, or incorrect journal details—errors that previously were rare and easy to flag. The phenomenon is complicating peer review workflows and increasing the burden on editorial offices and university research integrity offices. For academic institutions, the surge in fabricated citations demands updated policies on acceptable AI use in scholarship, stronger training for students and faculty on verification, and tighter editorial checks on submissions originating from campus. Research offices may need to expand plagiarism and reference‑validation tools, revise guidance on generative AI, and coordinate with publishers to preserve the reliability of scholarly records.