This Northeast Modern Language Association Board sponsored roundtable for the 58th Annual NeMLA Convention in Newport, Rhode Island (March 6-9, 2027) looks at issues and challenges posed by AI to humanities journals—how AI affects journal circulation, how prevalent AI generated submissions are, and whether peer review will ever be outsourced to LLMs—and connecting these to current predictions about the impending decline of the scholarly paper and journal as static objects and primary scholarly outputs.

It has been widely reported that AI-generated submissions are flooding academic journals. Addressing that trend, the recent Cambridge University Press report on “Publishing Futures” noted that over half of their survey respondents strongly agreed or agreed that the development of AI will negatively impact the research publishing system, though 65% agreed “that AI will reduce language-based barriers to research publishing through advances in translation” and 40% agreed “that AI will enable a more efficient peer review process.” However, much of the reporting on AI submissions and the majority of Cambridge’s respondents reflect the situation of journals in the sciences and social sciences. Recent data shows that academic fields are unevenly affected by AI and further research is needed regarding the impact of AI on humanities journals. How does AI affect journal circulation? How prevalent are AI generated submissions? Will peer review ever be outsourced to LLMs? This NeMLA Board sponsored roundtable looks at issues and challenges specific to humanities journals, considering these questions and connecting them to current predictions about the impending decline of the scholarly paper and journal as static objects and primary scholarly outputs.