In our January “how can we help you?” thread, a reader writes:
What should I do if I think my co-referee on an article used AI to write their report?
I’ve lately come across reports from my fellow manuscript reviewers (they’re visible to me) that stand out, and in exactly the same ways. Almost like a template. They are over-the-top glowing in their praise of the manuscript, unlike anything I’ve seen before (I’ve been refereeing for years); they spend numerous paragraphs – more than half – simply summarizing and at times quoting the MS (also something I’ve never seen before), and they all conclude with a suggestion that amounts to a minor word-change in an insignificant section or section title. It’s uncanny, when you see multiple versions of this. It’s almost as though they’re designed to (a) recommend publication in a way that forecloses the possibility of revisions coming back for further review, but (b) also in a way that showcases detailed (if uncritical) engagement with the manuscript.
I’m not alleging my co-referees gave the task over to AI completely. My suspicion is that they quickly got the sense the piece is on the level and, having satisfied themselves to that effect, didn’t want to invest more time. I say this in part because in all of the cases that stood out to me, the argument and scholarship had significant – but not immediately obvious – problems, but the style was impeccably expert. Enough to look exactly like good philosophy if you don’t have the time to read closely. Or so it seemed to me.
But I’m not sure what to do about this. Should I report my suspicion to the editors, and risk harming the reputation of professional colleagues on less than ironclad proof? Has anyone else noticed anything like this?
I haven’t noticed this as of yet, but most of the journals that I referee for don’t share referees’ reports with the other referees. In any case, if the OP suspects something, I don’t see anything amiss in them reporting their suspicions. If the editors want to look into it further, they can.
What do readers think? Have any of you encountered (or suspected) this?
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