TMLR Cracks Down on AI-Assisted Papers as Desk Rejections Soar

Episode 1 · TMLR Editors Quiz Authors Before Desk Rejection; All 10 Suspect Papers Rejected (2026-09-17, 13 posts)

An unusual practice by the editorial board of the machine learning journal TMLR (Transactions on Machine Learning Research) has sparked heated debate: co-editor-in-chief Nihar Shah revealed that before desk-rejecting some papers, the editors proactively contacted authors for Zoom calls, asking questions about their submissions to check whether the authors actually understood their own papers. The practice was first reported by Delip Rao on social media, with several reposters adding background figures disclosed by Shah.

Confirmed

• Background on desk rejections: amid surging submissions and a reviewer shortage, TMLR has been forced to tighten its desk rejection policy; per Shah, the desk rejection rate has jumped from roughly 6% in 2023 to about 53%.
• The editors reached out to authors of 10 papers facing desk rejection, inviting them to answer questions about their papers over Zoom.
• Only 7 of the 10 authors accepted the invitation, and none of those 7 could answer a single question about their own paper.
• Delip Rao, @DynamicWebPaige, and other posters relayed the test results as evidence casting doubt on author identity and paper authenticity.

Why it matters

• The practice takes direct aim at the proliferation of paper mills, ghostwriting, and fraudulent submissions in the LLM era: an author who can't answer questions about their own paper often means the paper wasn't done or understood by them.
• For scholarly publishing, "author quizzing before desk rejection" could become a new tool for journals to screen low-quality or suspicious submissions amid reviewer shortages—while also raising questions about procedural fairness.
• The swing from a 6% to 53% desk rejection rate reflects how severe the imbalance between submission volume and review resources has become in ML.

• TMLR tightens desk rejections as submissions surge, quizzes authors on their own papers — thegautamkamath · 2026-09-17
• TMLR's unusual Zoom tests: 7 of 7 invited authors fail to explain their own papers — deliprao · 2026-09-17
• TMLR editor interviewed authors of low-quality submissions: they had no idea what their papers said — TuhinChakr · 2026-09-17
• TMLR desk rejects all 10 suspect papers after author verification calls; 3 couldn't answer basic questions — RexDouglass · 2026-09-17
• TMLR desk rejection rate jumps to 53%, editors quiz authors on their own papers — ducha_aiki · 2026-09-17
• TMLR Quizzed 10 Desk-Rejection Authors; Most Couldn't Explain Their Own Papers — hihey54 · 2026-09-17
• TMLR Zoom defense test: 7 of 7 authors failed to explain their own papers — DynamicWebPaige · 2026-09-17
• TMLR floods with submissions; co-EiC quizzes authors on their own papers — furongh · 2026-09-17
• TMLR editor spent 20+ hours interviewing low-quality submitters: they don't understand their own papers — serrjoa · 2026-09-17
• TMLR Surveyed Authors Before Desk-Rejecting Papers, Results Are Devastating — Pseudomanifold · 2026-09-17
• TMLR tightens desk rejects amid submission deluge, quizzes authors on their own papers — RexDouglass · 2026-09-17
• TMLR desk-rejects all 10 suspected AI-written papers after author calls — sethlazar · 2026-09-17
• TMLR experiment shows spam paper authors don't understand their own work — anmarasovic · 2026-09-17

Episode 2 · TMLR Desk Rejects Surge to 53% as Authors Fail to Grasp Their Own AI Papers (2026-09-18, 4 posts)

TMLR editor Nihar Shah warns that researchers increasingly submit AI-assisted papers they don't understand: desk rejects jumped from 6% in 2023 to 53%, and 3 of 10 interviewed authors couldn't answer basic questions about their own papers.

• TMLR desk-rejection rate jumps from 6% to 53% as AI-assisted submissions flood in — vykthur · 2026-09-18
• 53% of TMLR submissions desk-rejected: 3 of 7 authors couldn't answer basic questions about their papers — Dr_Atoosa · 2026-09-18
• Journal editor tests authors: 3 of 7 can't answer basic questions about their own AI-assisted papers — Dr_Atoosa · 2026-09-18
• TLMR editor: desk rejections hit 53% as authors can't explain their AI-assisted papers — _Stocko_ · 2026-09-18