ScienceSunday, October 4, 20261 min read

Research paper overload: submissions capped at two a month

By Engineering Blogs · Published by Everything Blog

In short

The arXiv has been capped at two submissions per person per month to address the significant increase in submissions, from 20,000 in 2024 to over 40,000 in September 2026. This growth rate is unsustainable, and the moderation of the repository relies on volunteers. Google discontinued its bug reporting program due to the influx of reports, suggesting a trend towards complexity and difficulty for humans to manage.

Key points

The arXiv has been capped at two submissions per person per month.: The arXiv has been capped at two submissions per person per month.
The growth rate in submissions has increased from 20,000 in 2024 to over 40,000 in Septem…: The growth rate in submissions has increased from 20,000 in 2024 to over 40,000 in September 2026.
The moderation of the repository relies on volunteers.: The moderation of the repository relies on volunteers.

4 October 2026 · 1 min

Much of my research is on arXiv. I was one of the early adopters. It is simply a repository of research papers with PDF and metadata.

It makes it convenient to find research without any paywall.

Physicists started it in 1991. Math and computer science followed gradually.

It relies on volunteers to moderate it, because we don’t want garbage or spam.

On October 1, they capped the submissions to two per person per month.

Why?

arXiv got over 40,000 submissions in September.

Two years ago, it was about 20,000.

Doubling every two years. It is unsustainable for human beings.

In related news, Google stopped taking new bug reports in its open-source bounty program. They could not cope with the influx.

The writing is on the wall.

Daniel Lemire, "Research paper overload: submissions capped at two a month," in Daniel Lemire's blog, October 4, 2026, https://lemire.me/blog/2026/10/04/arxiv-capped-submissions-at-two-a-month/.

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Original source: lemire.me

AI Analysis

Tone

Negative

In short

Key Points

The arXiv has been capped at two submissions per person per month.: The arXiv has been capped at two submissions per person per month.
The growth rate in submissions has increased from 20,000 in 2024 to over 40,000 in Septem…: The growth rate in submissions has increased from 20,000 in 2024 to over 40,000 in September 2026.
The moderation of the repository relies on volunteers.: The moderation of the repository relies on volunteers.

Topics

Science

AI Analysis

Tone

Negative

In short

Key Points

The arXiv has been capped at two submissions per person per month.: The arXiv has been capped at two submissions per person per month.
The growth rate in submissions has increased from 20,000 in 2024 to over 40,000 in Septem…: The growth rate in submissions has increased from 20,000 in 2024 to over 40,000 in September 2026.
The moderation of the repository relies on volunteers.: The moderation of the repository relies on volunteers.

Topics

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Research paper overload: submissions capped at two a month

In short

Key points

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