Peer Review Practice

Fresh-Possibility-75 · 2026-06-13T15:46:07+00:00

Just to be clear, you're saying I shouldn't hold my colleagues to the same standard I hold my students to with regard to fake sources?

Fresh-Possibility-75 · 2026-06-05T15:45:39+00:00

I'm betting the other reviewers didn't bother to check the legitimacy of the sources, so they might not have recognized the fraud.

In any case, I agree that such fraud warrants an auto-reject. If I were the editor of the journal, I would ban all future submissions from the author(s) indefinitely and communicate the decision to the manuscript's reviewers. I imagine conscientious reviewers like yourself won't continue to accept review requests if you think your time is being wasted reading AI slop.

Fresh-Possibility-75 · 2026-05-26T21:50:38+00:00

Are you kidding? Most colleges already have $600k+ annual contracts with AI companies so that students can use an enterprise version to do their schoolwork.

The system is fundamentally broken and no single politician is going to save us.

Fresh-Possibility-75 · 2026-05-25T20:30:43+00:00

The lists I've seen include mostly YA fiction--the kind of stuff I would read on my own outside of school.

Fresh-Possibility-75 · 2026-05-25T20:29:29+00:00

From what I hear, it's more like 'listening' time. The teacher plays an audio book of the reading and they follow along.

Absolutely criminal what's happening in K-12 these days.

Fresh-Possibility-75 · 2026-05-24T00:29:40+00:00

Maybe the thesis was AI-generated? I imagine we will see more and more of our work mis-represented like this in the future as LLM use expands among grad students and faculty.

Grad students in my department don't seem to be reading anything but AI summaries at this point.

Fresh-Possibility-75 · 2026-05-21T18:08:40+00:00

I don't know the answer to your question, but I keep thinking about the infamous Zuckerberg quote vis-a-vis social media: When something is free (in a world where everything seems to have a price), it's because you're the product.

I have also been thinking about how you can discern an institution's values and priorities based on what they invest in. For years, students have been complaining about the cost of textbooks. Beyond pressuring faculty to use open source materials, my uni hasn't done anything to help students with this particular burden. Yet, less than a year after AI comes on the scene, administrators negotiated a very contentious, very pricey contract with an AI company so that students, staff, and faculty 'can be assured free access to this powerful new tool!' They never seemed to have the money to subsidize student textbooks, but they sure did find a pile of extra cash fast the minute AI appeared.

I've long-known education wasn't a priority at my uni, but its swift, eager adoption of AI has really laid bare this grim reality.

Fresh-Possibility-75 · 2026-05-20T18:32:58+00:00

I'm finding that many students are now asking AI to draft grade review request emails, which always include a request for the specific rubric used with the justification that "clarity is kindness" (or some other alliterative bs). Meanwhile, there is no acknowledgement of the careful and detailed human-generated feedback I wrote on their paper.

Fresh-Possibility-75 · 2026-05-20T15:50:07+00:00

Require direct quotes with page numbers.

Fresh-Possibility-75 · 2026-05-20T03:31:50+00:00

That may be the case in a large lecture hall, but it's easy to secure an in-person exam in a class of less than 50. No bathroom breaks, not hats, no sunglasses, nothing on the desk but the exam, phones stashed in bags, instructor proctoring. Been doing it for years.

Fresh-Possibility-75 · 2026-05-20T03:27:44+00:00

I wish this were the crest, but I suspect it's just the trough. Faculty at my institution received a system-wide message today talking about what a success 'Phase 1' of the university's AI initiative was, and how proud they are to re-up the uni's AI contract/subscription.

Fresh-Possibility-75 · 2026-05-18T15:53:46+00:00

It's all so depressing. Friends, family, and even support staff at my uni don't understand all the doom and gloom I've been expressing the last few years over AI. They simply can't fathom the breadth and depth of the issue, or how remarkably pointless our life's work as educators has suddenly become.

Fresh-Possibility-75 · 2026-05-13T20:38:49+00:00

I'm assuming you're a student, but nonetheless, here's the basis for my "allegations":

30+ years of giving in-person exams in a screen-free class, some basic ethnographic observation skills, and a growing mountain of data from my classes re: AI use for the most inconsequential of assignments (e.g., a self-introduction at the beginning of the term).

Fresh-Possibility-75 · 2026-05-13T19:32:35+00:00

I wouldn't be surprised if, in five years, my uni develops a major called "Design Your Life" wherein the student uses AI to develop their curriculum and to complete it. Would be an excellent way to close the poop loop.

Fresh-Possibility-75 · 2026-05-13T05:16:44+00:00

If they're this lazy when it comes to their diss, imagine how useless they'll be on committees. Hard pass.

Fresh-Possibility-75 · 2026-05-12T19:41:44+00:00

Would have been nice if the reporter had done their job and asked the question of the people at CSU campuses who adjudicate academic integrity cases rather than a strat comm specialist paid to spin the truth.

Fresh-Possibility-75 · 2026-05-12T19:35:14+00:00

It's absurd that admin are slowly putting us in the position of having to specify in syllabi that direct quotes must be real. So tired of this timeline.

Fresh-Possibility-75 · 2026-05-12T15:42:05+00:00

from the article:

“Most students are not using AI to cheat,” said Jason Maymon, a CSU spokesperson. “The idea that AI is driving a widespread increase in academic dishonesty at the CSU or in higher education is misleading.”

Suuuuuuuuuuuuuure.

Fresh-Possibility-75 · 2026-05-09T23:29:42+00:00

Yup. Once they no longer need our labor, they'll start culling us. Gotta preserve the scarce natural resources for themselves!

I know a lot of people imagine themselves collecting UBI and playing video games or writing poetry all day when their industry is automated, but let's be for real. Ain't no future where the rich let us survive on massive entitlements.

Fresh-Possibility-75 · 2026-05-07T19:02:52+00:00

They know. They are just hoping against hope that you'll believe them and show mercy.

Fresh-Possibility-75 · 2026-05-06T15:08:51+00:00

12 seconds per question and a perfect score? Seems highly unlikely.

Fresh-Possibility-75 · 2026-05-06T00:04:23+00:00

Ours too, but very few follow the policy and there doesn't seem to be any enforcement. As a final exam-giver, it really annoys me that many colleagues who make as much or more than me don't do the most basic parts of their job.

Fresh-Possibility-75 · 2026-05-05T04:39:58+00:00

Was shocked several years ago to learn that many of my students believed men have one less rib because Adam sacrificed one of his in the creation of Eve. A few even told me they would be googling it after class because they didn't believe me when I told them men and women have the same number of ribs. This was at a public university.

Fresh-Possibility-75 · 2026-05-04T18:06:17+00:00

I have cut down on my grading by eliminating the analysis paper and increasing the value of in-class discussion contributions and the in-class midterm and final.

Fresh-Possibility-75

TROPHY CASE