Identifying Bots Through LLM-Generated Text in Open Narrative Responses: A Proof-of-Concept Study

Joshua Claassen, Jan Karem Höhne, Ruben Bach, Anna-Carolina Haensch, Research Infrastructure and Methods Division, German Centre for Higher Education Research and Science Studies, Leibniz University Hannover, Mannheim Centre for European Social Research , University of Mannheim, Social Data Science and AI Lab, Ludwig Maximilians University Munich

Social Science Computer Review

Published online on January 14, 2026

Abstract

Social Science Computer Review, Ahead of Print.
Online survey participants are frequently recruited through social media platforms, opt-in online access panels, and river sampling approaches. Such online surveys are threatened by bots that shift survey outcomes and exploit incentives. In this proof-of-...