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Editors at Science Journal Resign En Masse Over Bad Use of AI, High Fees
Members of the Elsevier-published Journal of Human Evolution quit, citing AI production processes introducing errors, high author fees, and concerns over editorial independence.
Over the holiday weekend, all but one member of the editorial board of Elsevier’s Journal of Human Evolution(JHE) resigned “with heartfelt sadness and great regret,” according to Retraction Watch, which helpfully provided an online PDF of the editors’ full statement. There is also a major restructuring of the editorial board underway that aims to reduce the number of associate editors by more than half, which “will result in fewer AEs handling far more papers, and on topics well outside their areas of expertise.” John Hawks, an anthropologist at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, who has published 17 papers in JHE over his career, expressed his full support for the board members’ decision on his blog, along with shock at the (footnoted) revelation that Elsevier had introduced AI to its editorial process in 2023.
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